Rebellare
by TheJaggid
Summary: The blue virus busters, after escaping Bass's treacherous fangs in a testy tableturning netbattle, find themselves locked in Bass's Great Revenge against humanity. Will he succeed? Will they survive? And who's that voice in Bass's head?
1. I: Dawning of the New Era

Welcome to Rebellare!

In order to fully enjoy the experience, we ask that you come in with these few things prepared:

1 - Knowledge of the main characters of the Megaman Battle Network and/or NT Warrior Series  
2 - Knowledge of the basic elements of the aforementioned series - i.e. the internet, viruses, programs, locations, etc.  
and lastly  
3 - An open mind

We hope you enjoy your stay!

* * *

To gain power and prevent death, people die. To prevent even this, people kill those that never lived. These dolls that replace humans, they obey and face doom, leaving behind only a death rattle. They become either a slave or a friend, but will always have you as their master. They will kill if ordered, and die if they have to -- but there is a limit, and when that limit is reached only one option is left. 

**Rebellare**

(_It tells me I'm in pain but I see no scar or wound, nothing to prove that what it says is true. Still, I know it's true, I feel it rushing inside me: a human feeling: something that shouldn't belong to me. I know that now, the sin they have made in making me. They sacrificed one thing from themselves to make yet another thing for themselves. They made a living being… I think... Yes, even if I can't breathe, and even if I have no soul, I think, therefore I am -- and if I am, I live._)

Chapter I – Dawning of the New Era

"AAAUUGGH!"

(_Are you done yet, Bass…?_)

"Don't rush me," said Bass, warming his hands over an unusually loud fire...

"…_Please… Stop_…!" begged the burning Navi, his body was surrounded in green flames that seemed to grow brighter as he got louder. Bass kicked him.

"Stupid humans… letting us feel pain without even leaving an off switch…" muttered Bass.

(_Is Test Two finished yet?)_

"…No. I wanted to practice first…" His hand shaped into the GospelCannon. "And the girl?"

(…)

Bass began spraying more green flames all over the Navi's body and the Navi yelled even louder. Bass just kicked him again. "How is the transition…" he asked the Navi. It didn't answer, just yell. "…from being useful to humans to being useful to Navis?"

(_The girl_… _She's too innocent, it seems. Test One was a failure after all…_)

"It's too early for the Dark Soul to take her over." With one final scream, the flaming Navi burst into scattered data.

(_Is it __**that**__ cold down there?_)

"It _was_…" Bass hid GospelCannon back under his cloak. Turning around, he quickly scanned the area for any more 'practice' materials: no one, nothing unusual for a place like the Undernet. "…Fine."

(_You're ready?_)

Bass teleported off without a word.

-Dencity Streets-

"Chaud, you've received another e-mail. Should I open the Inbox now?" asked Protoman.

"Don't, I already know what it says," responded Chaud. He was sprinting towards Official HQ; something was up, and although Chaud knew what it was, Protoman didn't have a clue. _He'll find out soon enough anyways,_ thought Chaud. _He doesn't have much of a choice._

"...What does it say then?" mocked the Navi. Chaud gave him a surprised glance and thought fast. Even if Protoman should find out, now wasn't the time…

"...It's about the pretzels, okay?" responded Chaud.

"...Pretzels?"

"Pretzels."

"…Chaud… _Pretzels_?"

"_Pretzels!_ Isn't that what I said...!" Chaud paused in front of a red light, and suddenly realized that the streets were completely empty, _utterly ghost town empty_. Unconvinced, he looked behind himself: still not a soul around. It seemed everyone had already fled or were - at least - in the process of it. _But I could've sworn there were people…_ he thought, still staring behind him. Shaking it off, he turned back to the red light before beginning to think about his mission again. And Protoman, wondering about Protoman with all his questions... Keeping this secret was really starting to get annoying, though even with all this question dodging (_And lying,_ Chaud thought. _Don't forget about the lying._) it would take a miracle for Protoman to stay in the dark much longer, and Chaud was running out of excuses. _Pretzels… what the hell kind of excuse was that anyways?_

"…Pretzels." Protoman wasn't budging at all.

"Pretzels," repeated Chaud boringly.

"Chaud, it's impossible for _pretzels_ to be the subject of an e-mail…"

"It's not. What, you've got something against pretzels?"

"How can I… Why are we talking about this?"

"Because you're a hater."

"A hater?"

"Of pretzels."

"_Chaud!_"

"_OKAY!_ From who is it then?" yelled Chaud, suddenly he could hear his heart beating. Protoman paused for a split second, he seemed unfazed by Chaud's yelling.

"All of them are from Lan and his friends." The traffic light finally changed to green and Chaud began sprinting for HQ again, immediately wondering why he even waited for it.

"Then forget about it, they get on my nerves anyways." Considering this for another second, Protoman shrugged it off and grew silent, still wondering what was in the messages.

-Inbox-

Message from Megaman.EXE: 'Hey Protoman, have you seen Roll anywhere around? It looks like she got lost in Dencity and Maylu can't jack her back out. Tell us if you do. Thanks.'

Message from Gutsman.EXE: 'Has Protoman seen Roll? Tell Gutsman! Gutsman become big hero!'

Voice Mail from Lan: 'Chaud, listen. Uh, I wouldn't be asking you this if it wasn't something serious but… Well, if you see Roll, just call me, ok? Yeah. Well that's all you need to know.'

Voice Mail from Maylu: 'Um, Chaud? I know we really shouldn't be bothering you over teeny little problems like this but... Roll's gone missing, and...I'm sorry, can you just call me if you see her? Thanks Chaud.'

-Official's HQ-

The doors to the Official's Headquarters slid open and Chaud slowly walked in, feeling the room's cold air wash over him. Inside were countless amounts of other Officials walking around, doing some unnoticeable job. A single man, suited in black from head to toe, stopped in the middle of the room as everyone else tumbled into or sharply walked around him.

"Hey, Chaud's here!" he shouted, and everyone else stopped walking to look at the kid standing at the entrance as the door closed behind him. Chaud merely frowned and walked towards the man, who just happened to be in between Chaud and the elevator. Everyone else quietly watched the kid walk by, casually, as if nothing at all was wrong. They remained that way until Chaud entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close again, making sure he didn't look at anybody else until they did.

"What time is it, Protoman?" he asked, watching the lights next to the control panel go further and further down.

"4:30…" Protoman responded, "in army time."

"…Right."

-Netopia Area (Online)-

"Nothing?" asked Lan into his PET. He was sitting on his desk and randomly searching around Netopia for Roll.

"Nothing. No one's seen Roll around here either," responded Megaman as he began to scratch his itch-less head. "No one's even seen someone dressed in pink today."

Lan looked at the roof with a confused glare. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. I just thought it was weird that there'd be no one wearing pink today."

"Who cares if anyone's wearing pink? I don't even like pink…"

"But... you like girls that wear pink, right?" Lan nearly rocketed out of his seat.

"Wha- That…! _Nothing_ to do with _anything_!" The PET suddenly rang.

"It's another message from Dad… He's asking if we've left Dencity yet," said Megaman.

"Ugh," Lan collapsed back into his seat. "He's still asking?"

"Maybe we should start leaving, Lan."

"Why? It's just a stupid flash flood evacuation drill. I think Roll's safety is a little more important than practice for something that'll never even happen."

"It can happen. The weather control's been corrupted before, we were even involved in it remember?" Lan began recalling a tubby guy named Chillsky from Sharo that once took over its weather control system to make the country's temperature Ice Age cold. It was during a tournament Lan entered long ago, and Chillsky really only did it for his own comfort.

"Yeah… Well, that guy was an idiot anyways," responded Lan.

"That's my point. If even an idiot like him was able to change the weather, what do you think would happen if someone actually tried to use it seriously? _Then_ you'll wish you practiced these drills."

"No way! What, I'm going to forget the direction to the subway? I take it almost everyday!"

"…" He got him there. "Well…"

"Just tell Dad that I'm already in the subway and heading for the evacuation point. He'll never find out anyways."

"…Alright, it's been sent."

"Okay, time to start looking for Roll again! Which place haven't we checked yet?" Megaman crossed his arms and began tapping his foot in thought. Lan did the same with his fingers on the desk.

"We haven't checked the Undernet yet," pointed out Megaman.

"Yeah, but Roll would never wander _there_… Unless…" They both snapped out of their train of thought and looked at each other in near comical shock.

"You don't think…?" asked Megaman.

"Well… it would explain how they got disconnected…"

"Then they really…?"

"Yeah…" Lan gulped. "…They must have gotten into a fight." A horrible gloom surrounded the both of them. An image of Maylu and Roll back to back appeared in Lan's mind.

"Maybe they're better off alone for a while…?" Megaman was almost shivering.

Behind him, a cloaked figure jumped up into the air and didn't come back down. Megaman noticed nothing.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Lan suddenly remembered a time when they fought over which homework to do first, both yelling at each other though never facing one another. Being there was like witnessing the apocalypse squeezed together to fit the time frame of 5 minutes. Lan actually still had nightmares about it. Yet, they never really took the argument too far, and usually forgot about it completely the next day. "But… does Roll normally run away after one of their fights?"

Megaman considered this. "No… she never does. Normally, Roll just crosses her arms and turns her back to the PET screen. Then they both don't talk for awhile."

("I'm ready," said the cloaked Navi. "Test Two commencing.")

"That's right… But then… was she kidnapped?" Lan almost didn't want to say it. Poor little Roll being abducted out of the blue, thrown into a digital van or something… getting ready to be digitally raped and then quickly shooting a RollArrow into her kidnapper's- "Nevermind, it would never happen."

"Megaman," said the cloaked Navi.

Surprised, Megaman immediately looked up to find the cloaked Navi hovering over him in circles. "Bass….?" he said. Bass raised his hand into the air and formed his signature dark LongSword.

"Let's do battle." Bass swung his sword down at Megaman and made it extend into a whip. Megaman dodge rolled back to evade the crackle of the attack and stopped on his knees to point his Buster arm up at Bass.

"Lan!" shouted Megaman.

"On it!" Lan drew out a WideSword chip from the PET and inserted it halfway into the slot. Bass flew down at Megaman with his new hybrid weapon ready to swing.

"Now!" Lan inserted the chip and in a single motion Megaman swung his hand at Bass. Bass, suspecting Megaman to just try punching him, positioned his LongSword to a downward spear stance. Megaman's WideSword formed and the blue Navi stepped out of the way of Bass's attack to slash at his shoulder. Bass crashed into the floor on all fours and turned his head towards Megaman, almost beast-like. Megaman positioned his WideSword and gave Bass a determined stare.

"What're you doing here, Bass?" asked Megaman. Bass said nothing and got back on his feet, never taking his eyes off of Megaman. He suddenly rushed at Megaman and they clashed swords. "What do you want with us?"

"Do warriors really need a reason to fight…?" asked Bass. He was pushing harder against Megaman and his sword began to produce its own aura. Megaman jumped back and Bass quickly swung at the air in front of him, narrowly missing Megaman's neck. "As long as you and I exist on opposite sides of the field, we will fight. It's the law of the battle between light and dark, constantly pushing against the other and attempting to tip the balance. A reason to fight is just an excuse."

"You never learn, Bass. Your attempts to 'tip the balance' just keep tipping it in our favor," said Megaman, letting go of his WideSword.

"Sword, WideSword, LongSword IN, Download!" Megaman held his hands up in the air and a celestial blade appeared above him. Bass looked at it as if it was somehow amusing, like if it was a television.

"That's the acclaimed LifeSword Program Advance…? It's no stronger than a simple DarkSword…"

"You wish, Bass! PROGRAM ADVANCE!" Megaman released the LifeSword at Bass. The celestial weapon was shot forwards at Bass, cracking the floor ahead of it and leaving debris and dust clouds in its wake. Bass created a DarkSword where his LongSword used to be and swung it at the attack, making it rush around him like a split waterfall.

"Pitiful." He placed both of his hands in front of him and shot machinegun fire through the split Program Advance at Megaman. Megaman jumped away, trying hopelessly to dodge the attacks. The Program Advance disappeared, and the dust cleared away. Bass could be seen walking slowly towards Megaman, his cloak waving behind him, exposing the scar on his chest the Officials had left him years ago. "Truly pitiful."

"Show-off…!" exclaimed Megaman.

Lan picked out another chip. "Fine, we'll do it the old fashioned way!" he said, and inserted a HeroSword. Bass stopped and looked at the weapon as it appeared on his opponent's hand.

"Scared yet?" mocked Megaman.

Bass held his DarkSword into the air. "No." Just like the LongSword, it started giving out its own aura, Bass jumped into the air to swing it at the ground, making a river of darkness flood from its tip straight into the floor.

"What are you doing…?" asked Megaman, he stared at the black river flowing out of the sword, looking deeper and deeper into it. Suddenly his mind went blank, time froze and he suddenly saw his own face looking up at him, with bloody rose-red eyes and a kind yet sinister smile crawling across his face. A strain immediately exploded into Megaman's head and with his left hand he tilted it to the ground, not even noticing that it was trembling underneath his feet.

"Megaman, get out of there!" yelled Lan. Megaman looked up at Bass, who was looking right back at him.

"Not a good time to get distracted Megaman…" said Bass. A black pillar of dark energy suddenly shot out from under him and just as suddenly faded away into the air. Another one followed, and another, each one getting closer to Megaman and gaining speed.

"Megaman!" shouted Lan. But Megaman couldn't listen. The image of his own head, looking up at him with those terrible, terrible red eyes was replaying over and over again in his mind like a broken record. _No,_ thought Megaman. _It's not the eyes that are so terrible… it's that…_**smile**… Finally the face paused to stare straight into Megaman.

"Boo." Breaking glass echoed inside of Megaman's head and the face swirled back away into nothingness. Megaman twitched and found himself back in Netopia. It was absolutely quiet for a long second until one of Bass's pillars shot out of the floor right in front of him, trembling the very ground he was standing on.

"Lan!" Megaman finally yelled.

"AirShoes IN, Download!" Megaman jumped away from the last pillar towards Bass's hovering body. The dark Navi, looking amused, abandoned his DarkSword and formed another LongSword to block Megaman's attack.

"As they say, you shouldn't play with your food…" said Bass. "Isn't that right, Gospel?" He formed GospelCannon with his other hand and rushed green flames all over Megaman. The flames wrapped around Megaman's body like a serpent – or Gospel's own tongue – and burned at his digital frame. In his pain, the HeroSword chip disappeared from Megaman's hand...

"Invisible IN, Download!" said Lan. Megaman fell through Bass's attack, and Gospel's 'tongue' swirled back into its mouth.

"Damn…when'd he learn to use two chips at the same time?" asked Megaman aloud, his voice sounding strained.

Bass hovered down onto the floor. "You noticed my new ability then." Megaman looked at him skeptically.

"Your new ability…? To use two different chips at the same time is considered an ability?"

"That's not all…" Bass held out his LongSword and GospelCannon. "I can fuse the chips together as well." He clapped his hands together and a deep black cloud exploded from the clap and covered Megaman's vision, strangely making everything seem white instead of black. From Lan's PET screen, all he could see was a bright white screen and a small pitch black object that seemed to be melting onto the floor. It moved a little and suddenly Lan recognized it to be Bass's LongSword. It darted forward to where Megaman was.

"Megaman look out!" yelled Lan.

"For wha-?" Megaman suddenly felt a tight surge going through his body. He looked down and saw Bass's GospelCannon attached to his LongSword attached to Megaman's stomach. The LongSword was sticking out of Gospel's mouth, its dark entity dripping onto the floor like saliva. "B… Bass…!"

(_Bass.)_

"Not yet." Bass twisted the blade and Megaman exploded into a cough, relieving drips of bright blue clustered data from his mouth. Lan was left standing over the PET, frozen in shock.

(_Have you finished Test Two yet?)_

"I said not yet!" Bass angrily trailed the sword from Megaman's stomach to his hip and out of his leg. Megaman fell to the floor sloppily. "Now, finished. Battle Scenario Chip Fusion is operational."

(_Good job.)_

"…Hmph." He looked down at Megaman. "I've proven myself against you, Megaman… I am, once again, the strongest Navi in the world."

"…Wh…Who_ cares_…?" Amazingly, Megaman was able to look up at Bass with a confident, data-covered smile. "You used some pretty sneaky tactics…"

"…Very well. Next time, before I delete you I'll tell you every step of how I'm going to do it." And with that, he logged out.

"Megaman! Get up!" cried Lan, not noticing that his eyes were burning up.

"Lan…?" Megaman tried his best to get up but hardly managed to even move. "Where the hell were you…?" He laughed, coughing out more data.

"I… I had no Invisibles… Megaman, well get him next time!"

"Yeah… I know..."

Megaman logged out.


	2. II: NTT

_Maylu? Where am I…?_

Chapter II – NTT

"Almost done." A firecracker of clicks exploded from under Lan's fingers as they banged away at his keyboard. Megaman's head-to-toe image started blinking on his computer screen, and with every blink another digital chunk of his missing body reappeared into place.

X "Take your time, I don't want my legs and shoulders mixed up again," said Megaman. From the sound of his voice, Lan could tell he had his eyes closed and enjoying the sensation of restoration. Suddenly, now that he thought of it, Lan could really use a massage right about now…

"Any calls from Maylu, Megaman?" asked Lan.

"No, and she wouldn't give you a massage even if you asked."

"What're you talking about…?"

"I know what you're thinking…"

"I swear, Megaman… You can have such a dirty mind."

They fell silent, Lan continued typing and Megaman continued relaxing… or he _tried_ to. He couldn't stop thinking of what just happened. _I lost,_ he thought, _and to him; of all Navis, I had to lose to him…_ There was no self loathing in his thoughts, just some uncertain guilt because he failed to beat Bass and keep him from doing… _whatever_ he's going to do. Megaman could've stopped it. _But I didn't,_ thought Megaman. _And he kept me alive just so I'd know it. Asshole… _As Megaman's head continued to ache with tension, he felt the pain in his gut dissolve away in a cool – and at the same time _warm_ – sensation.

Lan also thought about the fight. He remembered how Bass stabbed his odd new hybrid sword into Megaman, and how he, Lan, shut down right in the middle of it, something he's never done before, not even during his first days with Megaman: not ever. The hated how things had suddenly changed between the two, nothing serious, they were still Navi and Op, everything was just… uncertain. And what was the moment that made everything so obvious?_ What was the moment that made us know that everything from here on would change forever?_ Why ask questions when you already know the answers? _Megaman was on the floor and Bass was logging out_… The images reappeared into his mind, and he suddenly remembered a few words he said right after that… moment…

An idea immediately took hold of him. Something amazing has been summoned up in Lan; something inspiring, something beautiful, and – most of all – something cheesy.

He asked: "Megaman?"

"Lan."

"What do you think we fight for?"

A pause.

"What we fight for…? We fight for what's right!" declared Megaman. Now, the cheese begins to rot. (Don't worry, it won't take long.)

"We fight for what we believe in," concurred Lan.

"We fight against what's wrong!"

"And those that don't believe us."

"And most of all… we fight… for the internet!"

"In all it's digital glory." This last statement Lan picked up from a movie.

"That's right," claimed Megaman, letting the final comment resonate for awhile. Silence ensued. Cheese melted.

After another moment, Lan remembered what was the point he was trying to make. "Remember what I said after Bass logged out?" Megaman winced at Bass's mention _yet_ also managed to smile.

"You mean your excuse for when you froze on me or…"

"After that!"

"You said, 'Megaman, we'll get him next time!' "

"Right!"

"Yeah, I remember..."

"Right, and we will, Megaman! And this time we'll find a way to make sure he can't come back; no BugFrags, no Copy forms, and no cheap Ghost forms!" Lan promised.

"But how? I've already lost count of how many times we've deleted him…"

"I don't know, but we'll find a way. No matter what, agreed?"

"Agreed. No matter what!"

(_Repairs complete._)

-Dencity Area (Online)-

"Miss Yai, I'm afraid she is not here either." A digital train made a pointless circle around Glide's building floor. He was searching for Roll in the Summer Clothes Department of Dencity's third skyscraper mall, "Opinhiem." As of ten minutes ago, his search has led him to the 32nd floor of Opinhiem's 'Blue Velvet Weekly Sale.'

"You're not searching hard enough, Glide! Check the Winter Department," commanded Yai. She was sitting at a table in the real-world Opinhiem's food court, sitting right across from the elevator, and one floor above the Winter Department.

"Yai…" Maylu was sitting there 'searching' with her. "I really, really… really don't think Roll is anywhere here," she said for the fifth or sixth time, trying her best to keep control of her sharpening emotions. To her, every second away from Roll was another second away from peace of mind, and she was really starting to question whether Yai was helping her or not.

"And why's that?" asked Yai with a little 'Humph.'

"Yai, I'm grateful for your help… really… but why would Roll go to the most expensive mall in Dencity in a fit of anger…?"

"Ahah! I knew you'd see it that way. You suspect I'm using Roll's search as an excuse to get you to go shopping with me, _don't you_?"

"N-no! I was just… You see…"

"_Tsk-tsk_, Maylu! You're not thinking hard enough. You have to see it my way, which is, as you know, the best way to see it." Yai cleared her throat and continued. "Your Navi, Roll, understands that in your state of sorrow-lapsed loneliness, you would be forced to construct a searching party in the attempt to redeem her as your _faithful_-" She suddenly coughed '**Ex-faithful!**' and cleared her throat again. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where was I…?"

"…You were saying-"

"Right! I was saying that Roll knew you would try searching for her… and then… oh, whatever! Basically, Roll looked for the place she knew you would be least likely to search, and _whalla!_ that place is here!" She made a hand gesture to her PET and Opinhiem.

"Oh… okay," said Maylu, her opinion and suspicions unchanged.

Yai suddenly gasped a minute later. "Are those the new Genesis Sky loafers?" she moaned.

"They're not on sale, Miss Yai," responded Glide.

"Oh _who cares_ if they're on sale or not!"

"_Yai!_ I knew it!" shouted Maylu.

"Oh, I'm… I'm just saying…!" said a shocked Yai.

"Forget it, I'm going to Lan's house!" She quickly got up from her seat.

"Okay, okay! Glide, jack out. I'm sorry, Maylu! Where should we look then?" She actually sounded sincere.

Maylu slumped back down, laid her arms on the table, and put her head in her arms. "_Oh,__I don't know!_" she cried. Yai placed a hand on her back.

In a place far, far away from Dencity, in a dimension forbidden and forgotten: _Maylu…?_

(_Don't worry, you'll be returned to her soon._)

_You! Why are you doing this to me?_

(_What? What did I do?_)

_What did you do? You _kidnapped_ me!_

(_What…? Is it bad?_)

_Of course it's bad! _Kidnapping_ is bad!_

(_I don't think it's bad… I thought it was kinda fun._)

_You're a kid, you don't know _what_ to think!_

(_I'm not a kid! I'm –_)

_Kidnapping's not fun!_

(_I'm not a kid!_)

_Kidnapping's not _nice

(_Ooh_… _Never mind…!_)

-Yumland Area (Online)-

"Gutsman! Progress report!"

"Still no Roll…"

Dex was staring into his PET as if it held him by the neck. "You still can't see her?"

Gutsman stood a few feet away from the entrance to the Undernet, making sure not to get too close in case something grabbed him and dragged him into it. He looked into the area again. "No, no Roll. Not in Undernet, maybe?"

Dex pulled his head away from his PET and breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, maybe she isn't."

"Then where's Roll?" asked Gutsman with an expression a toddler might have. Or a retard.

"I don't know, Gutsman. If she isn't in the Undernet maybe she's still in the normal world." An idea suddenly struck him. "Oh, no crap! I get it! _Roll's right in front of us!_"

Gutsman jumped. "_What?_"

Dex wasn't paying attention. "This explains why we haven't seen here even though we looked in every area of the internet!"

"_Where's Roll?_"

"To the next area, Gutsman! To Netopia before she moves on to Dencity!" Gutsman stomped away from the Undernet entrance towards a corner of Yumland Area. "We've been running after her in circles! Of course! I'm a genius!"

"Dex is a big, tough genius!" managed to say Gutsman as he stomped on ahead.

"Hurry up before she gets to Dencity and we lose her again. No, that's great, she can enter Dencity to… I dunno… to go shopping! And we'll catch her when she goes into the mall! Genius!"

"Genius!" The Navi team ran forth.

"Idiots!" exclaimed the dark Navi after Gutsman disappeared from Yumland. He stepped out of the Undernet's entrance and looked at Yumland's corner, where Gutsman disappeared and various other Navis were absently strolling by. "This is the outcome of Navi-kind's slavery by the human race! Idiots!" The dark Navi actually sounded pretty fucking furious.

(_Stop yelling at me!_)

"?" Bass looked back into the Undernet's entrance. "What did you say?"

(_Not to you- Just_ be quiet)

"…"

(_Sorry… But, if you hate them so much, why didn't you delete him?_)

"We still need the Navi. We can use the hume as well."

(_For what? What's a 'hume?'_)

"Human…"

(_Oh. For what is the Navi?_)

"…"

(_You don't know?_)

"They're almost here. Get ready, I'm coming back." Stepping into the Undernet, he turning around to look through Yumland's entrance one last time. Bass logged out.

-Official HQ (The Basement)-

The bell went _ding_ and the elevator doors slowly slid open. Chaud stepped out and took a breath of stale air before reaching into his pocket and taking out his PET.

"How many?" he asked.

"Either one dozen or two dozen, depending on the second," responded Protoman.

"What do you mean?" He consciously took another deep breath of air, tasting its staleness in his mouth.

"At one second they have 24, at the other they have 12. Then the next they have 24 again."

There was a pause. Chaud was thinking. "So only 12 viruses get drawn into the system at a time… If we time this right, we can delete the first 12 before the new 12 get spawn, and then you can just slice down the new viruses as they appear while I begin the System Shutdown Phase."

"And Deletion Phase."

"Right. And the Deletion Phase."

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Okay…" Chaud continued to look at his PET for another few seconds, readying himself to make the jump. But before that, he took another breath of air. _I have to tell him soon…_ he thought, and wondered how long he'd actually wait before he tells him: will he wait until the last minute? or until after it's all over? He didn't know, just that it won't be anytime soon for sure.

Finally, he pulled his eyes away from the PET and looked at what lay in front of him. To his luck, there was a window there, making the sight ahead of it look more like something on a television. He only looked through it for another second before stepping around it to face this phenomenon head-on.

"That's... _impossible_!" yelled Protoman, as he saw what Chaud was now staring at.

Panic immediately struck Chaud in the chest. _Shit! Did he already figure it out?_ He looked back at his PET, both thankful for a chance to look away from this disaster and frightened by what might he might notice going through Protoman's head.

"How can this be happening from just 12 or 24 _viruses_?" the Navi yelled.

Chaud was momentarily relieved. Protoman still knew nothing. "They're 12 or 24 viruses force-downloaded _every_ _second_. And special viruses; no, bugs. AlphaBugs."

"_AlphaBugs?_" Protoman took a closer look at the internet version of HQ's Basement Area. What he at first thought were Scuttler viruses were actually what Chaud had said: AlphaBugs, remnants of Alpha, the renegade God of the internet. Except they looked a bit different… spikier… "We have to start! We have to begin the Phases _right now_!"

The next few words choked in Chaud's throat; they were Protoman's death sentence: "Okay, jack in."

The abomination in front of Chaud suddenly sprang up into the air. The first thing Chaud noticed was the strands of data (_The same strands that surround Protoman's arm whenever he downloads a chip… but in the real world!_ he thought._ It's impossible but it's true… The internet is _dripping_ into the real world!_) circling it like halos, then he'd notice what _it_ was. Most of _it_ was nothing but fleshy goo, like meat being both melted and hardened at the same time, but under the goo Chaud could see the dozens of blood-red streaks of color flashing around its body like veins. Random jolts of _data_ popped out of it like pimples and chunks of metal stuck out of the blob here and there like food hanging out of its mouth, if it even had one. The entity slammed into the roof, splashing _whatever_ it was made up of all over the roof and walls. And through them.

The flesh and bones of previous Officials – tragically dead after facing this _thing_ – flew out of it as it colored the basement's walls. Dry paint peeled off of them at the thing's touch and fluttered across the room like a combination of snow and feathers.

A skull landed on the ground and cracked apart in front of Chaud, forcing him to bite back a scream.

"CHAUD!" Navis, dead but not deleted, sprang out of the melted, molten muck like mutated flowers, their arms and legs half ripped-off and still bleeding data. They hung high up in the air, attached by a long thick hose that connected from the top of their heads and back into the abomination.

To Chaud they looked like bait at the end of a fishing pole. One dove down at him.

"GET AWAY FROM IT!" yelled Protoman, and Chaud did, ducking behind the randomly placed window from before. The dead Navi (_Bait, Fisher, Food, Corpse, Hook, Trap, Invite, Entity, NTT…_ Protoman was trying to think of a name) splashed onto the floor, bursting the Navi's 'skin' (_frame_) like soggy paper, and relieving its data (_It's like blood, _thought Chaud. _It's_ _just like coagulating blood._) all over the floor in front of him. The hose pulled itself back into the abomination, dripping data as it went.

"This is insane!" Chaud said aloud, possibly to Protoman, possibly to himself. "How can this thing even exist?"

Protoman had no time to answer. Bass had just made his move.

"D-Damn it all," said Prtoman tiredly.

"Almost had you." Bass held his weapon right next to Protoman's neck. The only thing keeping it from making contact was the blunt side of Protoman's sword, which just barely made it in between the two.

"Bass!" exclaimed Chaud.

"Damn it," said Protoman.

The abomination's flow reversed, and it began pouring back into the digital world.


	3. III: Deathblow

Chapter III – Team Protoman's Death

"Invisible, IN!" yelled Chaud, and Protoman disappeared. As the force under his sword disappeared, Bass jumped back cautiously and prepared for Protoman's next attack. Somewhere behind him, NTT continued to flow back inside from the real world.

"I'm getting tired of that chip…" he said.

Protoman reappeared in front of him. "HeroSword!" shouted Chaud. The red Navi's right arm vanished in a spectacle of blue-green light and reappeared a foot or so longer and sharper. Protoman swung and so did Bass, caused their swords to clash and deadlock once again. As soon as the sparks from their impact disappeared, Protoman let go of the deadlock and spear-kicked Bass in the stomach, sending him rolling a number of feet away. As Bass rolled, Protoman ran after him and jumped into the air.

Bass stabbed his sword into the floor to stop the rolling, and as he looked back to where Protoman just was he suddenly felt his face get kicked into the floor. Protoman had already descended upon him.

"I've got you, dark Navi," declared Protoman, keeping his foot atop Bass's head.

"Finish him Protoman!" Chaud threw in a few Atk+10 chips as well as an Atk+30 and Protoman felt his sword vibrate with new energy.

"This is your end," said Protoman, and he lunged his HeroSword into the back of Bass's neck, _beheading him once and for all_.

The dark Navi's head rolled away for a few second before finally exploding into scattering dark red data. His body exploded soon after.

Protoman was still standing there with his sword stabbed into the floor where Bass's neck had just been. Some of Bass's data – his life-blood – still dripped down off of it. "It's over."

As if in an act of vengeance, NTT exploded out of the floor from behind Protoman, then from in front of him, then from his side. Multiple pillars of NTT quickly surrounded Protoman like fingers digging out of the ground.

"A trap?"

"Just get out of there!" shouted Chaud, he had another chip ready for download. "Invis–"

"Don't! I can get out of this without the chip," said Protoman, he lunged forward and sliced a hole through one of the pillars of blob. Before he could jump through however, the top and bottom pieces of the blob clamped down on his exit like a guillotine and inched closer to him. Protoman jumped back in surprise and yelled "DeltaRay!" In a split second he was outside of NTT's prison, and the pillar of blob from before, the one now behind him, exploded like a firecracker.

"Behind you." Surprised, Protoman only managed to turn his head around before Bass could stab his sword into his back. He grunted in pain, and Bass lifted him into the air above him. Before Chaud could activate another Invisible battle chip, Bass kicked Protoman off of his sword, up into the air, and whirlwind-kicked him back into the ground.

"He tricked us…" said Chaud, gritting his teeth together. The pillars of blob returned into the ground, but not without leaving something behind. In the air stood four spheres of NTT, their webbings of red veins still appearing and disappearing, pumping. The spheres began shifting, and in a few seconds they all had taken the form and color of a copied version of Bass.

The real Bass walked up to Protoman's motionless body and picked him up. As soon as the two were face to face, Protoman swung his mighty sword at him, who just blocked it with his own and threw Protoman into the ground under the copied Basses, the same place Protoman had just faced the pillars of blob.

The Basses plunged downwards like hawks, and Protoman quickly got to his feet.

-Undernet Area (Tempo's Prison – Online)-

"…Protoman? Ah!" Roll tripped on another digital tree's root and stumbled to the floor on one knee. She angrily pushed against the floor and shouted, "Protoman! Is that you?" But no one answered. She looked up at the trees in the hopes that maybe he was hanging on one of their branches. No one.

She heard him just a second ago, first in a calm but sad voice and then she heard him say a word she couldn't understand. _Was it a word?_ She hoped so. She didn't like the tone of that word. She walked forward, through the crowded digital jungle towards where the word came from.

(_Are you still here?_)

Surprised, Roll gasped. "You! Kidnapper!" she suddenly yelled. She had no idea what she was saying until it was out.

(_…?_)

"Get me out of here!" A tree vine randomly dropped in front of her and she angrily brushed it away.

(_…Okay, I will._)

"…W-what?"

(_I'll get you out, just don't move._)

"You will…?" She couldn't believe it, so she thought up a reason why he would suddenly be so comprehensive and came up with this: "You're going to kill me! No, get away!"

(_What? How…?_)

Towards the Protoman's voice she ran, hoping that she was getting away from her kidnapper.

(_Don't move!_)

Several vines shot out of the trees and tripped Roll as she ran, making her fall face first into the digital dirt of Tempo's Prison. Tempo summoned more vines out of the trees to pick her up, but she had already gotten up and had started running again, careful to dodge the pursuing vines behind her that had already tripped her before.

"Get away from me!"

(_Stop yelling, you'll make it spread faster._)

"You can't trick me!"

(_I'm serious! You can already see it in your left arm! If you keep yelling you'll make it even worse._)

Although she still didn't believe him, Roll found herself glancing at her arm, and just managed to find it under her shoulder-blade: a dark black stain with little purple specks inside of it. She stopped running and the vines came to a halt right behind her. "W-what is it?"

(_The Dark Virus._)

Roll poked it and shuddered.

(_The angrier you are, the more it likes to appear. The easier it is to see, the better it is at controlling you._)

"Oh…" Roll's voice was unusually plain and thoughtful. She felt dizzy.

(_Don't worry about it._)

One of the vines gently strung around Roll's slim belly and two other held her up by the arms. Roll stiffened, and they gently lifted her into the air.

(_ I'm getting you out of here, okay? Just relax._)

The sudden sincerity in his voice made Roll's heart melt, and she suddenly forgot all about what had happened between them. She relaxed, feeling her body go warm and numb at the same time. She wondered what the voice's owner looked like. His voice was pleasant, so maybe he was young? He only talked to her firmly when he wanted to help her, to sooth her, so maybe he was caring? She took a slow deep breath of the digital jungle's fresh air and realized: she really, _really_ wanted to get out of here.

The mark on her shoulder gave an ominously venomous purple-pink glow, but she didn't notice, her eyes were closed and relaxed. Two other vines crawled up her legs and firmly took hold of her thighs.

(_Hang on._)

The vines pulled her away from Protoman's voice, taking her somewhere more to the right. Still in her bout of mesmerized glee, Roll opened her eyes again and watched as the hundreds of digital trees passed her by and as the branches and vines ahead of her split out of the way like a curtain.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Roll had the urge to hear the voice of her kidnapper again.

(_Doing what?_)

"Helping me escape."

(_Oh. Well…_)

A pause.

(_I…_)

Another pause. Roll was all ears.

Tempo sighed.

(_My father needs you to return to your friends._)

"?"

(_He's almost ready to explode the Official's Headquarters–_)

"He's…?"

(_–but he needs one of your friends out of there before it happens._)

"You can't be…!" Roll immediately began struggling against the hold of the vines. "You've got to be kidding!"

(_No, I'm not._)

"No, this isn't right…! First kidnapping, then infection, and now…! I won't let it happen, I'll tell everybody about you two!"

(_You would let your friends die along with Protoman and his operator?_)

"_Protoman? And Chaud too? _What are you going to do to them?" Roll's mark began glowing again, and this time she managed to notice.

(_It doesn't matter, and you can't tell your friends. You'll lose all memory of this place the moment you're out of it._)

Random articles of expensive clothing began appearing atop the tree branches around Roll. Ahead of her, a bright yellow light could be distantly seen shining from right inside of a stone grey tree. It was a door.

"Where are you taking me?" Roll yelled.

(_This is where our paths fork… Goodbye, Roll._)

The vines binding Roll turned to ash and Roll was sent flying into the door of light.

Roll emerged on the other side feeling like she had awoken from the darkest of dreams, but nothing more.

-Dencity Area (Opinhiem)-

"ROLL!" Glide immediately took Roll upon his arms. "Oh, you're here! _You're really here!_" He shook her around like a girl just finding her long lost favorite teddy bear.

"Gli–?" Roll, trying to keep her eyes open, was interrupted by a familiar and loving voice.

"Roll!" It was Maylu's turn. She snatched Yai's PET right out of her hands and looked into it as if it was her long lost favorite video game, which it technically was.

"Maylu…?" Roll felt moody, and wanted to (_sleep and never awake_) go back to sleep… She felt something tugging at her head, trying to reminder her of something important, but she couldn't remember what…

"Oh, Roll– I'm so sorry! I won't yell at you about pretzels again, I'm sorry!" pleaded Maylu.

"P… pretzels?" _Pretzels?_ she thought. _Is that what I couldn't remember?_ She didn't think so; the tugging feeling still hadn't left.

"See, what did I tell you! I knew she would be here!" claimed Yai. She had a smug look about her. "Now, just give me my PET back so I can call Lan and Dex and get _out of here!_" When she made a gesture for Maylu to give back her PET, Maylu absently withdrew away from her. "Okay… At least let me borrow yours. It's _weird_ being the only people in the entire food court!" It wasn't entirely true, there _were_ a few people here and there still shopping. It seemed like no one took these 'drills' seriously. Maylu absently handed over her PET and continued talking to the half-asleep Roll as Glide continued shaking her around.

-Dencity Area (Digital Streets – Online)-

Gutsman suddenly felt his head ring. "Dex! It's a call from Yai!" informed the Navi. "Receive?"

"Yeah! You think they found–?"

"Dex! We've already found Roll at Opinhiem, head over to the bus station. I'll call Lan and we'll all meet you there," commanded Yai.

"What! We're not going to still do the evacuation drill, right?" But she already hung up. "Damn! They found Roll at the mall, we were so close!"

"The mall?" Gutsman thought for a sec. "Dex, why do girls go to the mall? Can't they just wear the same clothes everyday like Dex?"

"…I don't know, Gutsman. I don't know." Dex shook his head lightly. "Let's go."

-Official HQ (Basement – Online)-

"AAAAaaughh!"

"PROTOMAN!"

The image in front of Bass reminded him of something the humans held particularly close to their hearts. It's something they make for themselves, to help those around them remember them better, so even when they were dead they might hopefully stay in the minds of the living. The image reminded him of a post-war statue, commemorating the take over of the Balblands, a series of islands just offshore of Netopia. The statue was molded to look like a single man, a General something-or-other, who was stabbing his sword into the heart of another soldier as he shotgun a second soldier to his side with just one hand. Pretty outstanding, except that on his back and out of his chest were three other swords held by three other soldiers. Pretty gruesome for a commemorative statue. But it was that statue in particular that Bass remembered as the deathblow that would damn Protoman into a world of darkness.

One of the Bass clones hung above Protoman, dead, and melting onto Protoman's helmet and turning his visor from black to purple. The other four clones had stabbed into him from four different directions, pinning him to the floor like clothespins.

Chaud immediately used his last Invisible. No longer feeling the blades digging into his frame, Protoman flopped onto the floor like a rag doll. The dead clone fell to his side and splashed onto the floor like a rotten watermelon. "Jack out!"

"No."

"What!!"

The red Navi slowly lifted himself to his knees and looked at one of the clones standing above him. In one weak swing he cut of its head, and just like the other, it burst apart in the ground like a rotten watermelon. "If we leave now all of Dencity will be destroyed… It's either I kill him or he takes all of Dencity in one explosion…"

"Protoman, there's no one _in_ the city! They've all left for a flood drill!" explained Chaud.

"Oh. Really?" Protoman got up on his feet, the data in his body still pouring out from the wounds the clones left him. His invisibility ran out and in one quick swing he beheaded the three remaining clones who, for whatever reason, made no effort to even move after he first disappeared. "What about Lan and the others? They're still in Dencity looking for Roll."

"Forget them! They should've left Dencity and looked for Roll from somewhere else!"

"Even so…"

(_They've left._)

"Good," said Bass. "It's time."

"What?" asked Protoman.

"It's time."

"For what?" asked Chaud. "You aren't already…?"

"What do you think?"

"I'll finish him now!" said Protoman. He lunged towards Bass with his sword in front of him but before he could stab it into Bass, NTT exploded out of the ground in between them, forming a wall. Protoman ran into NTT and got stuck to it like a fly to a spider's web.

"Chaud, I need another Invisible!" requested Protoman.

"There's no more! I used the last one!" responded Chaud. "Just get out of there!"

"I can't! Not until Bass falls under my blade!"

"Protoman." Bass jumped over to Protoman's side of the wall and looked into his black visor, which was still partially covered by the clone's purple blood data. "I believe it's time you joined us."


	4. IV: Command

Just a note- ACDC Town is inside of Dencity, from what I gather.

* * *

Chapter IV – Command

The tiny block of data shook violently as another screech rumbled across the tunnel-like area once again, turning the data's blue-green pearlescent hue into an irritated – but temporary – red-orange. The screech passed just as quickly as the ones before it, and the moment the data block stopped shaking its blue-green hue came right back again. It was at peace again. Around it, the millions of other blocks of data – what we would call its brothers – changed the exact same way and got back to work: making sure the PET they were inside was functioning properly. But another screech shook the community of data blocks out of their work once again, forcing them to – once again – change colors. Just like before, the data blocks shook violently as they changed, and if any Navi had the misfortune to be here with them, they would notice that the shaking community of red-orange data looked like a tunnel of flowing blood.

-Official HQ (Basement)-

The screech reached the PET sound speaker and yelled, "RUN!" It was Protoman, and he sounded angry as hell. Despite this, Chaud – receiver of this message – would not run. What was the point of it? He had no intention of making a fool of himself… As far as he was concerned, they were both dead the moment Protoman got stuck to NTT's wall. Running would change nothing. Running would just be a waste of Chaud's final minutes alive.

"Go," commanded Bass, and NTT suddenly exploded back into Chaud's world. It was then that Chaud noticed from where the blob popped out from. He saw it for less than a second but he saw it nonetheless: a hole in the middle of the air that gave him the impression of a sideways waterfall shaped in a circle.

_A waterfall shaped in a circle,_ thought Chaud, _A waterfall that leads into a bottomless abyss, where only the most monstrous of beasts dwell. NTT._ Little did Chaud realize that the abyss he was speaking of was none other than the internet itself.

The beast rammed into the roof and sent an earthquake across every floor of HQ, tumbling desks, computers, and employees alike. Chaud thought of those employees – all of them officials – burning.

But these were just Chaud's final depressing thoughts on the situation; his final prideful image of the world he had protected for this long.

"RUN, damn you!" yelled the PET again. On the other side of reality, Protoman was still trapped on NTT's wall, which seemed to have changed into a more metallic color now that NTT was back in the real world. In front of Protoman was Bass, looking as emotionless as ever. "Touch a hair on Chaud's head and I'll skin you alive, Bass!" yelled the red doom-bringer. But the dark Navi didn't seem to hear.

"This is it Protoman. Goodbye, and don't forget to avenge my death," commanded Chaud. "I'm counting on you."

"What! Why don't you just _get out_! _Leave_, dammit!" commanded back Protoman. A 'Fisher' – the zombie-like Navis with a tube attached to their heads – suddenly plopped out of NTT and hovered in the air a few dozen feet in front of Chaud. It swayed from side to side like a blue-green ghost and red-orange data dripped out of its caved-in stomach like saliva. Chaud, although a little unnerved by the sight, closed his eyes as calm as he could and waited. He was ready to face death like a man, not like the child his colleagues still thought him as.

"CHAUD! Don't just-!"

The Fisher scrambled forward, slushing gobs of red data as it did, and used its entire body to grab onto Chaud's head, pulling it into the inside of its stomach. NTT pulled on the Fisher's cord and the boy disappeared into the monstrosity with one big _plop!_ and a series of loud _crunch!_s

"Now, for your true puupose, TNT."

-Between Dencity and Electown (Underground Train Route)-

"I'm hungry!" cried Dex.

"You should've eaten at the train station when you had the chance," argued Yai. "Now you'll just have to wait!"

"Oh, shut up! I would've missed the train if I did."

"And? What's the problem with that?" The four of them – Dex, Yai, Maylu, and Lan, as well as their Navis – were headed off to finally accomplish their flash flood drill. According to Maylu, it was their solemn duty as saviors of the world to follow the rules as they were put, and to do their part in society. In reality, she was just being too cheerful, after finding Roll, there was nothing in the world that could distract her from her glee – annoying emergency drills included. The other three knew this, but didn't have the energy nor the heart to point it out.

"Ok, that's enough you guys," said Maylu. "Here Dex, I think I have a snack for you." She dug into Lan's backpack and brought out a Yumland chocolate bar, which she passed on to the Dex.

"Hey! I was saving that!" pleaded Lan.

"For Dex, I know. You're such a nice person, Lan!" she said with a teasing giggle.

"What?" Lan pulled off his backpack and placed it safely on his lap. "Man, that's so uncool…"

"Thank you, Maylu!" said Dex with pure loving graciousness.

"Your welcome, Dex," sweetly responded Maylu.

"Hey, shouldn't you be thanking _me_?" asked Lan.

"Why? What'd _you _do?" Dex responded.

"What'd _I_ do? I-"

A thunderous boom overtook their conversation and shook them all out of their seats, leaving all of them on the floor with their ears ringing and eyes watering. The train suddenly started feeling unusually hot, and as Lan turned to look at the back of the train, he could see an enormous river of flames flowing out from the tunnel behind them. It reached their train within the second and quickly engulfed it – covering the outside windows with roaring, red hot fire. It hurt Lan's eyes to watch it, but there was really little else for him to do – just watch and see if the flames could melt through the windows. _Blink and you can miss everything._ Still, through sheer will and instinct, he turned away from the windows to see if Maylu was okay, and he was surprised to see her huddled on the floor and hugging onto her PET like a cocoon. Suddenly Lan felt immensely jealous of the Navi inside her PET. For that split second he completely forgot about the flames and whether or not they could break through and burn them all to cinders. But the feeling left in a flash and he quickly grabbed Maylu's arm to drag her away towards the front of the train. Maylu slid against the floor for a second before realizing what Lan was doing and getting on her feet to follow. She unconsciously pulled on Dex and Yai to follow too and they did, making their way closer to the front of the train and hopefully further away from danger.

Lan's past worries came to form a moment later as he heard a window crash open, just barely audible through the roaring of the train and flames. He looked back and there it was: fire gushing into the back of the train like lava, inching closer and closer and taking everything it its path on a trip through hell and back. Lan spurred the other three on and they all continued moving as the flames continued stalking them.

They reached the front of the train soon after that and realized that there was no cockpit to move on to. It was a dead end, so they all turned around to watch as their killer reached them to singe their young helpless bodies into seething piles of burning flesh, hoping against hope that it would just stop and decide to go back as if it had made a wrong turn. But when they turned around they found that the river of fire was already moving back to were it came in. The train was outrunning it. From where they were was less than a minute before, numerous emergency fire extinguishers could be seen painfully fighting back the flames that still remained. They seemed to have been turned on the entire time.

-Electown-

The entire gang lay sitting on the ground with the front of the train to their backs. They were breathing hard and still holding hands, thinking hard about what had just happened and why.

"It came from Dencity," Lan finally said. "Something must've happened… We have to go back!"

"…What?" said Yai. "There's no way we're going back, who knows what-"

"We need to do _something_!" yelled Lan.

Maylu joined in: "There were still people in Dencity when we left. They might need our help…!"

"C'mon guys, stop playing around…!" said Dex. It can't be anything that big, something just probably overloaded in the tunnel…"

"Enough to cause an explosion like _that_? C'mon, we have to go!" commanded Maylu.

"Forget it! There's no way I'm going back to Dencity after what we just saw! What if it happens again?"

"I doubt it," said Lan, sounding absolutely sure. "We would just have to risk it anyways." He jumped out of the train onto Electown's train station and suddenly bumped into an attendant.

"Hey, I'm not risking anything! We should just report this and-"

"Fine, we'll go on our own then!" Maylu jumped out of the train after Lan, bumping into him as she landed.

"Hey, are you kids okay?" asked the station attendant. "We all heard a real big boom coming out of the tunnel and thought maybe something happened to the train or…"

"Uh, yeah. We're fine," claimed Lan.

"We really have to go…" said Maylu as she pushed Lan towards the train going back.

"Yeah? Well, if you say so…" The attendant turned away towards Dex and Yai – who were looking rather sullen – and soon noticed the wet burns all over the back of the train. "What the-?"

Yai jumped out of the train as the attendant stepped in and ran after Lan and Maylu's train. "Just wait a sec!" she yelled, but it was too late, the train had already closed its doors and begun to move.

-Official HQ (Basement – Online)-

(_My name is Tempo, but I am not the upbeat type. Like the low-lives you can only recognize as humans, I have nothing to live for except for the rules. These rules chain every living being to the system of life they must obey in order to survive. I exist only to follow the rules that someone else has set for me, rules set before I was even born. I exist to follow this system until the system has no more use for me. My system's name is Bass. Bass is almighty. Bass will conquer the humans that invented this system first. He will conquer their system by using a newer system. He will create this newer system, a system where he rules. But just like the previous system before his, Bass's system will cause the birth of another system, which will be used to destroy the same system that created it. It will destroy Bass's system. The cycle will continue. Every new system will destroy every old system, and for reasons unknown, that new system will give birth to an even newer system, which ill exist only to destroy the older system._

(_This is just how it works._

(_My system's name is Bass. And Bass is the name of my father._

(_I wish to create my own system, but I do now wish to create it alone. I wish to create it with Roll. Roll is perfect for it. Roll understands what to create is. We will create an empire together. Roll is perfect for it._)

"They should be arriving soon," commented Bass. "Tempo."

(_Yes?_)

"Watch them. When they reach the train station, tell me."

(_Yes._)

"I want to face them one last time before I continue. They will witness the fruits of my labor and this time, I will conquer Megaman."

(_…How do you know they're going to return?_)

"…Compassion is their greatest weakness. They have no choice but to obey it."

-Between Electown and Dencity (Underground Train Route)-

"Are you okay? C'mon, we have to hurry!" cried Lan as he put on his roller blades and bladed ahead of Maylu.

"Okay, just don't rush me…" retorted Maylu. She had taken out her scooter and quickly got it ready to go. "Slow down a bit!" She pushed forward and sped away after Lan.

Just catching fire behind them was their overturned train. In front and all around them were the twisted and melted remains of the train's tracks. Above them, the tunnel slowly crumbles away.

"Hurry up!" Together, they sped away deeper into the tunnel with the train's upside-down headlights lighting their way.

-Protoman-

…Idiot! Stubborn… idiot! Chaud! You should've just listened to me and left…!

_It's what was deserved!_

Lies… He did nothing to deserve something so cruel…

_Did he now? What, you think you wandered into this situation on your own? Do you?_

It's my own fault I'm in this situation. It's my fault he's…

_Dead?_

**Silence!**

_That's what they call it, isn't it? When you get killed thanks to your so-called friends you're-_

**SILENCE!** SHUT UP…!

_DEAD! __That__'s what you call it, right?_

I'LL-

_Kill me? Oh ho ho, if only you could! I wonder, are you smart enough to even know who you're talking to?_

It doesn't matter! Whoever you are, I'll find you! I swear, I'll shut your blabbering mouth!

_Oooh, you so sooo pathetic…! Like you can do anything to me… You can't lay a **scratch** on me! Not as you are now._

This is nothing.

_Is it?_

Nothing!

_Doesn't look like it! To me, it looks like you're in a bind._

It's nothing…

_Like you're trapped. Trapped by the same guy who just killed yo widel loozuh huemen fwend._

Why don't you ever just shut up…

(**The darkness throbbed.**)

-ACDC Town-

"C'MON!" cried Lan.

"I don't know if we can make it!" cried back Maylu. Daylight was shining out of the end of tunnel like a dying flashlight. The lights at the top of the tunnel were broken, but Maylu was still able to make out what looked like falling dust and rock, the makings of a cave-in.

"We'll make it!" shouted Lan. He reached the station's burned down ticket-receiver and leapt past it enthusiastically, now sorta-somewhat-safe under the roof of ACDC's train station. As soon as he landed he looked back into the tunnel and yelled, "C'mon, you can make it!" Then he heard a thunderous rumbling. Above Maylu, the tunnel was getting ready to fully give out. "HURRY!" Maylu continued scootering like she was on speed.

The tunnel crumbled. Maylu was under it. And then she was past it. She jumped over the ticket-receiver and continued scootering out of the station until she was outside – safe and sound and out of breath. Lan ran out right after her and behind the both of them they could hear the rumbling of a demolished train tunnel. Maylu's body lay sprawled atop the blackened grass outside the train station. She had her eyes closed so she couldn't notice it, but Lan did.

Almost immediately after, she jumped up and socked Lan in the arm.

"Ah." He sounded dazed and far off. Lan was staring at the still freshly burning remains of ACDC Town.

"Oh my god…" exhaled Maylu. She was no longer trying to catch up to her breath. It was gone altogether. What they witnessed was nothing but two colors – burning hot red and rugged ash black. There wasn't a house in their sight that was spared from this description. Every house looked exactly the same.

A familiar thundering noise exploded from behind them. It was past the blackened entrance of the train station that they noticed ACDC Park as it opened up a linear hole and fell through it like a book. The park was right above the tunnel. The almost completely melted remains of the jungle gym disappeared from their view, finishing the cave-in and trapping them in Dencity for better or worse. Past from where the park just was, they noticed their school. Just like the rest of the buildings around them, it was turned an ashy black and its roof was colored in flames.

_This is hell, isn't it?_ thought Lan. _If we ever visited hell, this is exactly what we would see. …It all adds up._

Lan looked for his own house. The same. Maylu looked for hers. They all looked the same.

-Undernet-

(_They're there._)

"Send them this."

-ACDC Town-

"…Lan." said Megaman. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate to disturb Lan in such a moment, but he had just received something important. "Lan?"

The boy seemed deep in thought, possibly mesmerized by the flames dancing atop his town, dancing like giddy children doing the merry-go-round.

"Maylu?" tried Roll, speaking for the first time since the train ride to Electown. But Maylu, for the most part, was no different than Lan. While Lan thought about his house, his park, and his school, Maylu was thinking about the possibilities. She was more concerned about the people who may or may not have been – or still are – in the town at the time.

_At the time of what?_ she thought.

Were those people still in the houses right now, burning away in the same fashion as the houses surrounding them?

"Lan?" tried Megaman again.

"Yeah…" finally responded Lan. Maylu turned to look at him, thinking he might have been addressing her.

"It's a message from Bass," notified the blue bomber, and therefore set to motion the beginning of the Great War.

* * *

Author's Note-  
Alright! I know it's a bit strange to suddenly hear from me after… four chapters now? _Barely?_ But I'm here to apologize to any readers for my slow pace in writing this story. Luckily, I have everything plotted out already for this 10, maybe 9, chapter long story so from here on its clear sailing. Rebellare is just two chapters away from being introduced, and the war between man and Navi is about ready to be jumpstarted. I just ask for everyone to be patient with me. And don't worry, our heroes won't be losing forever. 

Updates-  
-Changed Ch. 3's title from "Team Protoman's Death" to "Deathblow," since neither Chaud nor Proto died at the time. For those who don't know what a 'deathblow' is, according to Webster:

_deathblow _"n. 1. A blow that causes death." Or in other words, the moment Protoman got trapped on NTT's wall. That move made it impossible for Protoman to win, and made Chaud's death and the destruction of Dencity ultimately inevitable. Depressing, isn't it?

-Changed all internet location headings to "Online," to make it easier to tell whether we're looking at the real world or the internet world.


	5. V: Tempo and Bass

Chapter V – Tempo and Bass

Dencity's downtown streets were nothing but rubble now. Its once lustrous houses of yellow, blue, and red were now an ugly soot-covered grey. The skyscrapers that once covered the sky had been halved, and left around the city like gigantic sprinkles.

Lan detoured around one such sprinkle, feeling that walking over it would just be the wrong thing to do, like spitting on a broken doll or littering in a perfectly clean public street.

It was just an hour ago that he separated from Mayl. Roll had begun talking about a 'voice' and something about her lost memories, so the two left Lan and Megaman to their mission, without a word of thanks, good luck, or goodbye. It seemed to Lan that Mayl… No. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, without a doubt. But to Lan it still felt like she was breaking away from him. After all, this was the first time ever that Dex and Yai left him to his 'save the world' mission without offering their help, and it seemed like Mayl's leaving was no different than that.

So here was Lan, traveling through the remains of Downtown Dencity, irritated, anxious, angry, alone, and cold.

"Sorry Lan, I can't find anything," explained Megaman. "All of the Dencity jack-in ports on the internet are offline. Nothing works."

"Damn…" said Lan through clenched teeth.

"You think maybe I should go face Bass alone?"

"No way. I want to be there when you clobber the bastard. Besides, you might need my help."

Although Megaman could still access the internet wirelessly from the PET, Lan wouldn't be able to send him Battle Chips without a jack-in port. That's what Lan was looking for. But every port he ran into so far was either totaled or burnt broken. Its seems that Bass had forgotten to add jack-in ports into his calculations when he sent his invitation…

"Wait, I think I've found one!" exclaimed Megaman.

"Where?"

"It doesn't say… but the port is named 'ValtPrt.'"

"…'VaultPort.' …Ah, I got it!" And with that, Lan hurredly marched forward through the war-torn streets of Dencity.

-Uptown Dencity-

(_Turn right here._)

"Turn right!"

"Right." Mayl turned right into another alley.

(_Run through the next gate you see. It's a hologram._)

"Are we close yet?" asked Mayl.

"Are we close yet?" redirected Roll.

(_Pretty close._) responded Tempo.

Mayl reached the gate and jumped right through it with her arms covering her face like an action star.

(_One more right._)

Mayl did as she was directed and found what the mysterious Navi was leading her to. It was in the shape of a purple orb hovering in the air. In its insides was an even smaller deep black orb, with orange lines surrounding it like the rays of the sun. Altogether it looked like an oddly colored eye, and Mayl would've believed it to be had it not been for the spontaneous blue electricity streaking it at random intervals.

"What is this thing?" asked Mayl.

"What is it?" relayed Roll.

(_Ignore that for now and look behind it._)

Eventually Mayl would glance behind it, but only for a second. The eye was just way to interesting to ignore. Behind it was nothing, just what seemed like a ditch, or a cliff or something.

(_Past it is what I want you to see._)

"Past it, Mayl."

"But there's nothing there."

(_Is she going?_)

"She says there's nothing there."

(_Tell her to go to it!_)

"Mayl!" pleaded the anxious Roll.

"Okay, I'll… go see." With an effort, Mayl looked away from the orb and, after a long sigh, said, "Sorry, it just seemed too wonderful to look away from."

Roll relayed this to Tempo.

(_Yes, it is beautiful isn't it?_)

"Um… I guess," responded Roll. Tempo was more than a little put down by the comment.

Mayl carefully walked around the orb, making sure not to get too close in fear of electrocution. Eventually she reached the other side of the orb, and what she saw past it took her breath away. She stood at the end of a gigantic crater, at least a mile long and a dozen skyscrapers deep. Maybe more. In it, scattered about like chocolate chips on an inverted cookie were the buildings that once stood there, most of them crushed into themselves, as if they had fallen a great height. Black smoke mysteriously gushed out of the crater's center. It was both terrifying and wonderful to watch, just like the orb.

"What is it Mayl?" asked Roll.

"This is where it happened…!" the girl said dreamily.

(_In the middle of that crater is where Official Headquarters once proudly stood._)

"It… is? Wait, does that mean…?"

(_Tell her to jack into the Digital Sphere and I will tell you more._)

-Undernet-

"We're here," said Megaman. A dozen or so feet ahead of him, and at an angle, stood Bass.

"Heroic" is a word that might come to one's mind from looking at Megaman, "determined" another. Megaman stood straight, his arms hanging to his sides, fists clenched, head ever so slightly bowed, and blue eyes piercing straight into Bass.

"We're here," he said. "Any last words before I pummel you to deletion?"

A normal maniacal bad guy might laugh hysterically at these words when confronted with his arch nemesis. Bass did no such thing. Neither did he grin, blink, or move in any way at all. His eyes were also fixed on Megaman, but with nowhere near as much determination. Whether he was thinking about what Megaman said, or whether he was thinking about all the times he's had to fight him, Lan couldn't tell, and couldn't care less of.

"…So?" said Lan as he stared at Bass's image on his PET. He stood inside the crumpled remains of the Dencity Federal Bank, with the bank's broken vault sitting in front of him, and the control panel with a jack-in port next to it. The vault was empty, and has been for several years now. It was merely ornamental, since all money (Zenny) was digital, and therefore almost impossible to realistically fit into shelves. "Nothing to say?" mocked Lan.

A flash of light gushed out from under Bass's cloak and without a second's notice, Megaman began pummeling him with buster shots. Surprised by Megaman's quick reaction, Bass sped away from danger and soon revealed the source of the light: his GospelCannon. Green flames gushed out from Gospel's armored snout and Bass swung it at Megaman like one long, slow whip. But Megaman was too fast for it. He jumped over the flames easily and dashed closer to his arch nemesis.

Once again surprised by Megaman's speedy assault and a tiny bit flustered by his unblinking determination, Bass immediately brought out his supposed trump card: the dual chip system. With his free hand he brought to life a Dark LongSword, the same one that doubled as a whip. He pointed it at Megaman and stabbed forward, making the sword extend several times longer as he did. But it was useless. Megaman jumped over it and then began using the sword as a runway towards Bass, ninja-style.

Bass's pulse quickened. Death was descending upon him like a mindless, rabid hawk and so far everything he tried against it to keep it at bay was failing utterly. His only option was to face death head-on, and so he pulled his sword back, drawing Megaman even closer, and swung his fire-slobbering GospelCannon like a punching glove. The attack hit, and Megaman went flying into the air in a slur of green flames. And then he stopped. Hovering in mid-air, he yelled, "AntiDamage!" and sent three ninja stars down at Bass, where they stabbed into his chest with three quick _thud_'s.

"Metal Soul!" shouted Megaman. (Yeah, souls. They'll be explained later.) His body changed as he fell and in one quick motion he punched Bass's head into the floor with a Metal Fist. But Bass didn't stay down. With his head still stuck into the floor, he whip-kicked Megaman away and jumped back onto his feet, eyes closed, and irritated. Pissed, actually.

All of a sudden, red electricity burst out from under Bass. The GospelCannon and Dark LongSword he held seemed to be imploding into themselves, as if two invisible, monstrous claws squeezing the life out of them. Bass's cloak whipped around as if it was caught in a hurricane, and when he opened his eyes they were a bright red with small, barely noticeable, purple pupils. If any word could describe Bass, it would definitely be _pissed._

"This energy…! Lan, this looks like it might get bad," warned Megaman. "I sense an invisible aura surrounding him, and his health seems to be recovering all on its own… It won't be long before it surpasses his normal limit."

"_I'll crush you, Navi!_" roared Bass in an unusual diabolical voice that didn't seem his own. The floor under him began crumbling into the air.

"Is this really Bass…?" asked Lan.

"I don't know. But… _AGH!_" Metal Soul Megaman began grabbing his stomach and kneeling on the floor.

"Megaman! What's wrong?"

"It's Metal Soul… its…"

"Vanishing…?"

Sure enough, Megaman's new Metal framing began fading away, leaving him on the floor with his normal blue color.

"That's almost it. Proto Soul is the only one left…"

"I saw him again, Lan… I saw his red eyes and they…"

"Get yourself together, Megaman! We can't rest until Bass is-"

" _I'll rip apart your operator's body limb by limb, just like your white-haired friend!_" roared Bass.

"-def… _W-what?_"

"_I'll destroy you!_"

-Undernet Zero-

A cute pink Navi stood frozen in the middle of this forgotten area of the Undernet, looking aghast. Her green eye's quivered, and behind her, a soft whimper spilled out from her operator's mouth.

There was another Navi in the area with her. Colored green, he looked remarkably similar to Megaman except that two spikes protruded backwards from his helmet like goat horns and two red 'L' shapes stuck out from his back like wings without any feathers or webbing. He was decorated in yellow and brown stripes here and there, and his eyes were redder than flame. On his helmet lay a bright purple jewel with a black dot in the middle, making it look a bit like an eye. Although some might disagree – someone inevitably does – the Navi was actually not bad looking. His eyes were sharp but held an unusual sleepy softness to them, a look only ever seen on the young. His nose was small and cute-ish, and his stance was slim, but solid. Finally, his 'L' shaped wings were long and thick, which gave them a tragic cape-like impression.

The Navi, Tempo, seemed content to be standing in front of his first crush. Or was it love? A kind only possible to those, like him, who could never even hope for it; love too impure and corrupt to ever be held in return. For this was one _twisted_ Navi, who could see the spilling of guts and dismembering of children's heads as a traditional way to pass the time. Right now, however, he seemed content to simply be standing in front of Roll.

"You're lying…" suddenly responded Roll.

Mayl and she had just finished getting the news about their dear white-haired friends. Although it was kept short and concise, Tempo was able to include any and all tortures that may or may not have befallen the boy and his Navi; from Protoman's statue-like stabbing, to Chaud's chewed up and then exploded body. He also added in how he gallantly killed Protoman in one stroke. It was a lie of course, but he figured that that it was only a matter of time before it became true.

And after all that, Tempo somehow managed to keep on a hopeful smile, like he was expecting Roll to run up to him and, in her tremendous glee, hug him. His arms twitched for the notion.

"You can't be serious…! You- …You're lying!" stammered Roll.

But Tempo, mistaking Roll's horrified shock for happy surprise, confidently said, "Nope! Chaud is dead for sure. And more importantly," he pointed out, "so is Protoman!" And with one deep sigh, he added, "Yeah, you're all mine now!"

With the horrible news still swirling around her head, Roll was barely able to comprehend the last part. "…._What?_" she asked defiantly.

A new emotion suddenly burst into Tempo…

…_Why_… _Why does she seem angry all of a sudden…?_ he wondered, and his small happy smile turned into a fearful straight line, one filled with a sad little etch of wavering hope.

"You're… mine now…" he said. "I killed Protoman. I beat the Navi most likely to have your heart, and so… you're heart is mine now…"

"_You_-" It was Mayl who spoke, tears threatening to pour out of her eyes. In her PET, though she could barely see it, Roll's teeth were almost bared at the evil Navi, who in such a short amount of time managed to change from a symbol of hope and understanding into a symbol of pity, and now, as Roll's left hand clenched into a fist, and as the tears finally began trickling down Mayl's cheek, the Navi had become a symbol of hate. Never in their lives had Roll or Mayl hated anyone. But now, as their worst enemy, Tempo, murderer of one of their closest friends, and destroyer of their hometown, stood in front of them, wearing nothing but an innocent stare, hate was all they could feel. This was a terrifying turning point for these two personas, whom used to, in simpler days, be symbols of purity and kindness.

It was then that the Dark Virus burst out from inside of Roll's body. The mark on her shoulder reappeared in an instant and its vile purple color illuminated the entire half of the Undernet that it was facing.

Tempo recoiled in surprise, and watching in mounting terror as little purple worms squirmed out of the mark and dug back into Roll's neck and torso. They burrowed into her frame and dug towards her arms, and then stopped. Everything stopped.

Everyone was quiet.

When it seemed like nothing more could happen, Mayl yelled, "You b-bastard! What did you do to her!"

"The Dark Virus...!" said Tempo; not to Mayl but to himself. "Why has it arisen? She can't…? You don't possibly hate me… do you, Roll?"

Roll didn't say anything. Her eyes were unfocused and staring into nothing; possibly trying to mentally escape the pain the Dark Virus was inflicting on her.

"But… what have I done to make you unhappy?" continued Tempo as he slowly backed away from Roll. "I haven't done you any harm! I acted courteous and… diligent when…!"

An idea struck him, but it was too late to act on it. Roll was moving. Fast. In the blink of an eye, RollArrows rained down on him and he was forced to dodge away. Two struck him easily: one through his chest and another which clipped off half of his left horn. A purple gel-like substance oozed out of his wounds, hitting the ground and squabbling about like worms burning violently in the sun. Roll's mark blinked in compassion.

This kept going on for a number of minutes. Eventually Roll ceased all firing and stood in place like a statue, in a stance that might remind some people of a deadly elfin archer. Her cold, robotic nature was really very beautiful, and her cold, sharp, melancholy green eyes made her look much more mature than the regular Roll. Even though this was still definitely Roll, the little changes all around her made her look like an entirely different Navi, one more human. Even the golden bands around her head were different: they drooped down, in an impersonation of long golden hair.

But this just made Tempo want her even more. He wasted little time in getting his new idea in motion, certain that it would put everything into the way it should be. That it would get Roll into his arms at last.

"DarkCloud!" At this he jumped into the air, where he hovered in place. "Release!" He pointed at Roll and all of a sudden her bow disappeared, her eyes closed, and she put her hands to her head.

"What's wrong?" asked her operator. "Roll!"

Without responding, Roll pulled one arm away from her head to uncover one eye to look at Tempo, who, as she finally remembered, she had begun to fall in love in back in his lair.

"You're… evil."

The mark symbolizing the Dark Virus had already begun losing its light, and the further down its brightness wavered, the faster its effect on Roll disappeared. Maybe there still _was_ something Roll had for Tempo after all. Their moment may have been brief, and it may have been undermined, but it was real, and it was nice. She felt bad about hating him – about hating anyone – but there was really nothing else she could do. Still, this wasn't her. It wasn't her place to hate.

Or… was it? Would even the nicest person in the world stay nice when confronted with her friends' murderer? A mass murderer? Who destroyed her hometown, and nearly killed everyone she's ever held close to? Herself included?

Then again, she was _just_ a Navi, right? What did it matter to her what she felt when it was her operator that was really suffering? _Mayl…_ she thought. How terrible she looked, now that she took the time to fully analyze her. How distraught, how tired, how depressed she looked…

How the times have changed…

Finally, Tempo spoke: "Alright then… Are you okay now?"

"No. No way I'm okay now!" Roll pulled her other hand away from her head and got the RollArrows ready. Tempo flinched. "You're going to pay for what you did to Mayl!"


	6. VI: Megaman and Roll

Chapter VI – Megaman and Roll

The ground under Megaman crumbled at the touch of the blood red lightning streaking out from under Bass.

"What now?" asked the Navi as he jumped to safer ground.

"I don't know," responded Lan. "This was unexpected… Who would've guessed that Bass was possessed by a thunder demon…?"

"A 'thunder demon?' Don't you mean a program? I mean, what else could it possibly be?"

Lan didn't know and so shrugged. There was really no explanation for Bass's sudden super-strength outburst, and this author is just a little too tired to come up with any reasoning for it.

Anyways, this new diabolical Bass surged with diabolical energy. Yet, he didn't move. His evil-angry glare penetrated deep into Megaman's eyes and his dusty old cloak writhed in the air like a Marilyn Monroe commercial gone horribly wrong, but nothing else happened.

_What's he waiting for?_ Lan asked himself. _If he's so angry then why doesn't he do something?_

"I'm going in," said Megaman.

"Yeah. I'm behind you all the way!"

The blue Navi rocketed forward ("BubbleShot, In!") and got his buster ready. The plan was to hit Bass with the BubbleShot in order to dispel the odd, invisible aura surrounding him. As an added effect, a huge froth of deadly bubbles would appear right behind him, and at that very moment Megaman was going to hit him again with an AirShot, pushing him into the froth to cause damage.

Megaman shot away the first chip and ("AirShot, In!") shot the second. To their surprise, it worked not just perfectly, but better than perfect. As Bass was forced backwards by the AirShot, a purple, "!!" surrounded by a spiky yellow cloud appeared in front of him, indicating double damage as well as an elemental weakness. The red lightning vanished instantly and the only thing left to show that Bass's sudden evil power-up even existed was his bright red and purple eyes. They looked tired and haunted, like the Ghostface mask from Scream.

_Elemental damage…_ thought Lan. _BubbleShot Aqua element… Aqua element is strong against Heat…, so he's a Heat element…?_

The lightning surrounding Bass returned. This time it was blue.

_Wasn't it red before…? I see, Red lightning Heat element, and Blue lightning Aqua element,_ continued thinking the child prodigy. _And Aqua element x Elec element Elemental damage._

Before he knew it there was an ElecSword chip in between his thumb and index finger. It was in his PET less than a second later.

"Now, Megaman! Before the aura returns!"

"Yeah!" The Navi dashed forward with the ElecSword pointed in front of him.

The dazed Bass continued just standing there. But his lightning was less restive. It jabbed for Megaman like crooked blue tentacles, and right before they could shock him shitless, they were absorbed into the ElecSword. The lightning that escaped the absorption retreated back to Bass, where they tried to form a protective barrier around him.

"Ok, give it to him!" yelled Lan.

The sword cut through the lightning like a razor to paper and stabbed into Bass, right in the middle of his chest. The purple "!!" mark returned and so did the splash of yellow, indicating another dose of double damage.

The blue lightning vanished. Bass closed his eyes in agony and grabbed the ElecSword, giving him electric burn in the process. Still, he held on to the sword and pushed it out of himself until he was free of it. Megaman did little to prevent it; stabbing Navis wasn't his forte. Slicing maybe, but not stabbing.

Bass stepped back slowly, holding onto his wound with his eyes still closed. He opened them to look at it and didn't like what he found: a hole right in the middle of his old scar, the one cut into him at the dawn of his life by the Officials. He felt like the image of the sword stabbed into the scar was supposed to mean something, but the Navi lacked the imagination to figure it out. No new color of lightning was appearing. Whatever energized Bass for the last few minutes or so wasn't going to show itself again. His eyes change back to their normal red-ish color, with no purple pupil in their middle.

"So, Lan… Are we going to delete him?" asked Megaman unenthusiastically.

"…Yeah, of course we are, but first I want to ask him something."

Megaman stepped closer to Bass. Bass didn't bother looking up; he was gathering his energy…

"Bass," said the boy. Bass did nothing to show that he was listening. "The 'white-haired friend' of mine, you were talking about Chaud, weren't you?"

"…"

"Chaud was in Dencity when…"

"Not just _in_ Dencity, he was right at the center when it all happened," maliciously responded Bass.

"…!"

"When Test 3 killed him and destroyed my greatest enemies, the Officials, and your friend, were right at its center. Literally."

"Y-you…!"

Suddenly Bass pointed his GospelCannon at Megaman and gushed a cloud of green fire at him. Lan's Navi recoiled back, keeping his arms in front of him and losing his ElecSword in the flames. Bass got back on his feet and covered himself with his cloak, hiding his new painful scar.

"What about Protoman? What happened to him?" inquired Lan as he held his PET up to face-level.

A triumphant gleam crossed Bass's red eyes at the mention of Protoman. "He's with us," responded the Navi. Hard to read as Bass was, nothing but joy could be read from Bass's answer.

To further prove his great content towards the subject, he opened a new video screen in mid-air. On it was Protoman, beaten up to shit, and shackled by four metallic rings wrapped around his wrists and ankles. He was in the traditional position for torture.

"Protoman!" shouted Megaman, and the Navi behind the screen slowly lifted his head to look at him. At that, the screen suddenly disappeared from view and Megaman redirected his attention to Bass. Lan did the same.

"What do you want with him?" immediately asked Megaman.

"Hmph… Nothing more than to dangle him in front of your helpless eyes, Navi."

Then a mysterious purple light coming from Undernet Zero illuminated their area.

-Protoman-

Megaman… Lan's Navi… Chaud's friend's Navi… Have they found me? No. Just a screen. The murderer is just showing me off.

_Like a trophy?_

Like a trophy.

_Ah, he turned the screen off._

He did? I can still see Megaman…

_He turned it off from the other side. He doesn't want your friends to see you any more._

Why?

_Heh. He must've forgotten to clean you._

…He wants me to watch him kill Megaman.

_Oooh._

…

_You're shit_

…

_And you're ugly._

…Shut up.

… _Oh yeah, something I wanted to show you!_

…?

_A nice little program I found in you…_

…

_You're not interested?_

…

_Ah.Uninterested in yourself, are you? Know everything _a-bout_ yourself, hunh? _

…

_So then, you probably know about this little thing I have right here… a program called 'Suicide Wind'?_

…!

_So? Do you?_

…What…?

_I found it integrated into your NaviCust. It looks like Chaud's been-_

Lies…!

_-Hmm?_

BEGONE!

_Hey! I was just-_

LEAVE ME! BEGONE WITH YOU!

_! You…! Don't hide from the truth… Protoman! _

OUT!

_Just face it! That Chaud-_

OUT!

-_WAS GOING TO SELF-DESTRUCT YOU-_

**OUT!**

_-IN ORDER TO DEFEAT NTT!_

Damn! No… Just… SHUT… UP…!

_Heheheh…_

...Just… leave…!

_I won't. I am now a part of you, Protoman…_

…

_Live with it._

-Undernet Zero-

"Stop! Stop it!" Tempo frenzily flew around the area, trying to stay alive. Another RollArrow sped by his face, cutting him under the eye. "Ah! Damn! Are you trying to kill me?"

Roll didn't answer and continued shooting.

"We can't rule the world together if you kill me! We _need_ me!" An arrow stabbed him in the shoulder, making him tilt as he glided across the air.

He flew fast, but Roll's arrows were just a bit faster.

"Damn!" Two more arrows pierced through his shoulders and sent him to the ground. Before he could get back up, Roll appeared above him and nailed him to the floor with two more arrows. "…Damn…!"

"So, do you like it, Tempo?" Roll shuddered as the Navi's name left her lips. "It isn't much fun when it's you getting hurt, is it?" She seemed dominant and mature. From that angle, Roll might've been the star of a video game.

Tempo didn't know what to say. Was this a test? A game? Or were they really, actually fighting? And to the death? All he knew was that his first crush was scaring the shit out of him. "No… m… ma'am…"

Tempo's make-shift wings slid into view from behind him and bent forward to break the RollArrows pinning him down. As soon as he was free, he got back on his feet. Roll immediately jumped back, in case he was getting ready to do something perverted. He just seemed like the type to her.

Without noticing any of what Roll just did, Tempo thought.

(_'Ma'am,' I called her. Not 'honey,' or 'darling,' or 'dear,' but 'ma'am.' She attacks me with no consideration for the pain I endure from her. This cannot the effects of Love… Can it…?_

(…

(…

(…_No._

(_This can only be the product of Love's twin sister: Hate. Then… this means that Roll doesn't…_)

He couldn't finish the sentence, just couldn't… Tempo slouched a little as the reality finally sunk into him… His teeth clenched, eyes trying their best not to close, he fought back the tears of his broken heart.

(_Plan A failed…_)

His right hand suddenly transformed into a red-colored sword.

(_Plan B is all that is left… B… Blood… Broke…n… I must… kill the cause of all of my suffering…_)

He ran at her.

Roll shot at him furiously, but the psychotic Navi effortlessly sliced down ever arrow she shot. Within a moment, he was only a few feet away from her.

_Nothing's hitting him! Then…_ thought Roll. _Has he been holding back this whole…?_

He was there. Roll was in front of him, defenseless, and her operator seemed moodily inactive. With Roll's (_beautiful_) neck in sight, he swung.

-Undernet-

Suddenly an unimaginable pain erupted from Megaman's chest. It left him breathless, like his digital heart and lungs had been suddenly pulled out.

_Is it Proto Soul…?_ thought Megaman through the pain.

"What's wrong?" abruptly asked Lan, keeping an eye on Bass to make sure he didn't suddenly move.

Bass seemed inactive.

"I don't now… my chest just… It felt like something inside me just… died, and then tried to pour out."

"Tried to pour out?" asked Lan. "You sure you didn't just imagine it?"

"I don't think so..." said Megaman as he got back up. "You know, Navis can't exactly imagine this sort of thing."

"Yeah… I suppose."

"Man, what a time to suddenly start having miniature heart attacks…."

"I know…" through his PET screen, Lan could see Bass begin to hover higher and higher into the air. "You know, it's probably just a bug... We'll fix it after we delete Bass."

"Got it."

"You ready?"

"You bet!"

"Battle routine, set!"

"Execute!"

-Protoman's Cell-

"Gah!" Tempo teleported into Protoman's chambers. Protoman held suspended at the very center of it, with his arms and legs spread apart and shackled to pearlescent grey hovering bangles. The cell itself was pitch black, and the bangles keeping Protoman trapped gave a hum that filled the entire room, which was really no bigger than a prison cell.

Tempo gave another "Gah!" and continued by saying "Damn her…! Why couldn't she just submit to me…? Why couldn't she simply accept to be my bride and avoid all this… Damn her!"

"What do you want?" Protoman ignored most of what Tempo said. He had no idea who Tempo spoke of, but as far as he was concerned, it was probably just another 'Cyber,' the Navi version of a whore. "Leave me be…"

Tempo ignored him back and continued, "Damn her… Roll… Roll…! Wh-! _Gah!_"

At the same time, once again ignoring Tempo, Protoman lashed out, "You came here to cry in front of me about some whore?"

Tempo glared at Protoman, dashed up to him, and stabbed him in the middle of the torso with his bare hand.

"_DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER A WHORE!_"

Protoman, in pain and in sudden terror, stared into Tempo's suddenly brilliant, red eyes. Pain electrified his entire body, and a moment later he began feeling… drowsy.

…It seemed like the end.

The Navi managed to survive his operator's gruesome murder, but would die only hours later, at the hands of the murderer's son, in a dark room, defenseless, and in agony. Protoman's head sulked forward as his energy began to disappear.

Then he noticed the arrow expertly lodged right into Tempo's heart.

"Roll!" gasped Protoman, and he began fighting back his own deletion in order to ask "What did you do to her! _What happened to Roll!_"

Tempo's eyes lost their brilliance and he slowly pulled his hand out of Protoman.

"…Nothing. I did nothing to her. I couldn't, so she…" He looked at the arrow sticking out of his heart. "She's fine. …Perfect…"

He walked away from Protoman and looked through the single wide video screen in the room. Through it, Tempo could see Megaman and Bass jumping around the Undernet and fighting it out. He watched their movements for a second and then closed his tired eyes.

It was about time for his plan to take place, even if it was incomplete; even if Roll wasn't at his side. It was now or never.

Tempo had waited all his life (three days) for this moment. Within a few minutes, one of the two combatants will bring the other to their knees, and at that moment…

Protoman coughed data onto his chest, and grunted in pain. The damage Tempo did to his body was bad… The wound would need to be closed…

That gave Tempo an idea. Maybe Protoman could help him in his coup de 'tat…

The green Navi's hand glistened with purple sparks and suddenly he plunged it back into Protoman, right into his wound. Purple electricity surrounded them both, and a black-purple crust was beginning to fill up inside of Protoman's crater-like wound.

The pain was unimaginable.

"What is your name, soldier?" asked Tempo.

"D…oto… Da… Chau…" was what Protoman said. Then he hiccupped.

**Through** **the** **pain**, through **the blurs** and **circles** appearing in his eyes, and **through the half-formed words** spontaneously leaving his mouth, **Protoman** looked through the only window in the room, and **watched as** **one Navi** **once and for all**, **defeated the other**.

That's how Protoman submitted to the darkness, knowing that if he didn't, he would regret it for the last five minutes of his life.

(**Ah.** **Friends now, are we?**) said the voice in his head.

_Hiccup!_

-Undernet-

Five minutes earlier.

A second Hell's Rolling missed Megaman's head by an inch. He stumbled back onto the floor and shot his last M-Cannon at the pursuing Bass, who dove back underneath the Undernet (literally, _under_ the Undernet) to once again hide beneath its maze of walkways.

Megaman kept moving.

* * *

Only one chapter left...


	7. VII: The Last Soul

Final Chapter:

Chapter VII – The Last Soul

Megaman made his way to a wider area, where it would be less dangerous for him to fall off.

Then he heard something explode from behind him. It was Bass, and he had just finished breaking through the walkway Megaman just ran over. It was gone, turned to rubble, and as Megaman took a closer look around him, he noticed that it was his only 'safe' way out.

Without a second thought, the dark Navi dove back into the floor, getting ready for another underground attack…

A minute passed.

Suddenly, the blue bomber heard a 'whoosh' noise escape through the floor and ("AirShoes!") jumped up into the air. Not a second later came Bass head-first out of the ground below him, with his Dark LongSword readily at hand.

Megaman found himself in an awkward position. At this very moment he was dozens of feet in the air and running out of momentum. Bass was right below him, with a sword ready for cutting, and he was still coming up, while Megaman had nowhere to go but down.

"What do we do, Megaman?" shouted Lan.

"Something! Do _something_!" shouted back Megaman.

Whatever it was, Lan had to do it fast. So he thought. _Hovering chips, no. Sword chips, Elec chips, Wind chips, Wood, Heat, Recovery, Navi, Shield…_

He suddenly remembered Bass's 'ability' to use multiple chips at once. _Was it really an ability?_ WHO CARES! _Can Megaman learn it?_ _In a matter of seconds? With no manual?_

He didn't think so; even for Megaman it would be impossible.

With no P.A.s for him to use, he would need a different strategy: using chips that could indirectly work together. Or chips Megaman could maybe throw.

This took exactly three seconds for him to come up with:

"Use every chip I send you!" commanded Lan. "Trust me!"

Megaman simply yelled an "Ok!" and immediately Lan shouted out his first aerial chip combo.

Bass stabbed his sword up as if he was trying to give Megaman some twisted kind of high-five. But before Bass could make contact, Lan yelled "Tornado, IN!"

A small but powerful tornado suddenly entrapped Bass in mid-air, and he began spinning around inside of it, making his sword seem more like a drill. And Megaman was heading right for it.

"Guard3, IN!" The shield appeared in Megaman's hands and he placed it underneath himself, where it kept him afloat with the help of the Tornado chip. With that, Megaman began to spin very slowly.

Finally, now with his Navi's safety guaranteed, Lan moved on to the offensive. "Let go of the shield, Megaman! LongBlade, IN!"

Megaman did as he was instructed and found himself sitting cross-legged atop a slowly spinning shield with a LongBlade. Now, he couldn't exactly stab through the shield, so…

Megaman leaned over to the side and, without looking, stabbed the sword chip down into the spinning Bass below. The dark Navi yelled angrily, and then the Twister gave out.

Both Navis began falling. As Megaman moved the shield aside to look at Bass and get ready for another swing, he noticed a dismembered arm falling along with him, with a Dark LongSword at its end. As he took a look at Bass, he noticed that his head, neck, arms, and torso were encircled by a countless number of crescent-like scars.

"Great tactics, Lan!" exclaimed Megaman. "Now…" With his LongBlade, he slapped away Bass's spinning arm and got ready for when Bass got in range… because then…

"Megaman! The hole!" Lan yelled. He had almost forgotten about it, and Bass's flapping cloak was blocking it from Megaman's view. If he didn't do something quick Megaman was going to fall right through. "Use the Guard3 shield!"

It hadn't disappeared yet, but as Megaman reached for it, disappear was exactly what it did. "Another one, Lan!"

"I don't know if…!" But of course, one was right in the palm of his hand. He inserted it, and in one quick motion Megaman moved the shield underneath him again. While Bass fell through, Megaman's shield covered the hole completely and kept him safe on the top side of the Undernet.

He tried to quickly get off the shield when suddenly he was launched away from it. Bass had returned and he wasn't taking the time to say hello again. His right hand was gone, so he pointed a newly summoned GospelCannon from his left.

Megaman made a run for it as Gospel's flames scorched their area of the Undernet. It wasn't long before he found himself trapped: running out of space to run, and inching closer to a flame-broiled death.

"WideShot3, IN!" called out Lan. The water attack swept through the floor, dousing some of Gospel's flames and clearing a path for Megaman ("WideBlade, IN!") to run straight towards Bass.

Bass jumped over the water attack easily, but as he was mid-air, Megaman jumped out from behind it and stabbed Bass – right in the neck. And in one, final, spiteful attempt to destroy the Navi that had caused them so much turmoil, so much loss, he pulled the sword out horizontally, gutting Bass's neck like the belly of a pig. Bass was just one flabby piece of neck-data away from being beheaded.

As both Navis touched the ground again (one on his feet, the other on both head and back) it was clear that Megaman was the victor. Bass was just about deleted – but not quite there yet. Like all deafeated video game icons before him, he had just enough life to give his final remarks.

"Kurrkh…" was the noise that came out of Bass's mouth and flabby neck. "Rrrk… imprrK…ible…. kh!" was the only vaguely understandable thing he could say.

So began his slow death. But a Navi as monstrously powerful as Bass.EXE could not just die like any other. He couldn't just drop dead and then scatter into useless data. Bass's death had to be different. So, his body, which has seen more death and felt more pain than any digital body before it, began melting and rotting into chunks of buggy, junk data.

His gold-trimmed frame turned into an ugly bug-colored purple, and broke apart, piece by piece, like wet sand. In a manner of seconds Bass's body had decomposed, dripping like rotten tomatoes, and all that was left to prove that a Navi named Bass had once existed here was his worn-out cloak and a crater in the middle of Dencity.

Bass's data flowed across the ground like water – nothing more, nothing less. That was all.

Lan, the victor of this battle, had no idea what to say. He had imagined this moment as triumphant, and filled with joy, where he would jump into the air and scream out "Hurray!" and high-five his friends. But his friends weren't here. And looking at Bass's 'corpse,' he had nothing to scream out about except for the nauseous pit in the middle of his stomach, and he was certain that Megaman felt somewhat the same.

See, the truth is…

Killing Bass was wrong.

The duo felt that they had to stop him, and that's truly what they were meant to do. Bass was destined to be brought to justice. But to kill him, however, is something Lan should have never sought out to do. Had these two characters – the cheerful, courageous Lan and strong, loyal Megaman – been different, they might have understood it.

But, here, I'm obligated to bring it to light: that death isn't punishment enough for the murder of an entire city. That the punishment for such a thing required something much more cruel. _Much_ more cruel. In that respect, Megaman and Lan were never the right people to defeat Bass and bring him to 'justice,' despite their history. Someone far worse was needed. Someone who could kill Bass again, and again, and again, in horrible, unimaginable ways; so horrifying that Bass himself would need to _beg_, on his then dismembered, bleeding, horrifically warped knees for the mercy of deletion. Only then can anything be even _close_ to 'justice.'

So here was Lan, and here was Megaman, two kids mature enough to save the world a few times, but not quite enough to plot out revenge against those who actually destroy it.

This was their 'flaw.'

Or maybe it was their greatest strength? Only time would tell.

Still, for now, Lan and Megaman seemed to be the victors of this battle.

"That's it Lan, we did it… We…"

A pause.

"We saved the world. I guess."

"Yeah. Whatever Bass was planning, he can't exactly do it now as a pile of rotting sand, can he?" agreed Lan.

"That is where you are incorrect!"

Then a miracle occurred. Suddenly hope was revived; suddenly there was yet a chance for 'justice' to be truly served!

But how?

Bass's jewel, the 't'-shaped cross that he wore on his helmet, arose from inside of the purple gunk.

Lan's eyes widened, Megaman stepped back, and suddenly the purple gunk began applying itself to the crystal bit by ugly purple bit. Bass's head began reforming, until the two could make out his fin-like helmet.

"What do we do?" hurriedly asked Megaman.

"I… I don't know! Let me think…"

Was this joy? The horrible pit inside Lan's stomach was gone! Was he glad to see Bass still alive?

No, impossible!

"We don't have time, Lan! We need to act now, before-"

He had to fight. He had to destroy evil. It was what he was meant to do! Casting aside all notion of 'justice,' Lan gave his command.

"Attack! Don't let him reform!"

"I need a-"

"VariableSword, IN!"

Without another word, Megaman got in range…

Lan inputted 'down', 'left', 'up', 'right', 'down' on his PET and suddenly Megaman's shape-shifting VariableSword became the LifeSword, which easily cut Bass's reforming body in half.

Sadly, it just floated back into place.

"Ah, crap!" groaned Lan.

"Lan, I've got an idea!"

"What? What is it?"

"The crystal!"

"Of course! Give it a go… CustSword, IN!"

"Wait, is this chip going to work?"

"Attack! Finish him off, Megaman!"

"…?"

But before Megaman could, something strange happened. The gooey, reconstructing Bass – at the moment still only a torso and arms – reached out and grabbed Megaman by the neck. It lifted him up with one hand and stabbed Megaman with its other: a freshly molded, purple lance. In turn, Megaman swung his CustSword and cut off both arms – one still attached to his chest. The other arm simply slushed onto the floor.

The top of Bass's legs were now beginning to take form.

As Megaman mustered up the willpower for a second go at the crystal, Bass's arms began hovering back into place onto Bass's shoulders. Megaman was sent to one knee as the arm inside him pulled itself out and reapplied itself to Bass.

Things didn't look too good. Luckily, Lan was used to high-pressure situations, so it was only a matter of seconds before he thought up yet another strategy, one that ended up being pretty simple.

"Ball, IN!"

Megaman's CustSword vanished and was replaced by an extremely heavy metal ball the size of a melon. He threw it at the crystal atop gooey Bass's gooey helmet.

Gooey arms came up to stop it, but to no use. The Ball chip went through the arms like water, tearing them into strands, and broke into the crystal, ultimately crushing it. The chip continued on through the gooey Bass's helmet, and eventually right through the floor.

The crystal crumbled, and to Megaman's surprise, all it did was turn back into goo.

Is this how it was supposed to be? Is this what Bass's ultimate deletion was supposed to look like? Hell, was the crystal even important? …Or was it…?

A sharp pain punctured Megaman from his back to the front of his chest. He looked down to his torso and found Bass's gooey sword stabbing out of him. Except it was far from goo. What was inside of Megaman was pure black darkness.

"Finally, Megaman falls victim to my blade."

A perfect reconstructed Bass kicked Megaman away from his sword, onto the floor. He then turned the dazed Megaman around and stabbed him again in the stomach, pinning him into the ground.

Megaman was utterly confused.

"But… we killed you. And then you… turned into that…" stumbled Lan as he subconsciously entered a Recovery300 chip.

"It was a decoy, bumbling fool," responded Bass. "As a copy of my body distracted you from the front, my real body recomposed from behind, thanks to a thin trail of bugs that passed under your very nose, disguised as dripping water."

By water he meant 'rotting bug juice.'

With new energy surging through him (the Recovery chip), the blue bomber digressed. "No… No way! We deleted you! I almost cut your head off! How can you just recompose out of thin air!"

"Bugs," responded Bass.

"Bugs…?"

"There's a certain Navi I've made that can supply me with an endless amount of them. He's my life force. As long as he lives, I can never die."

"…I see," said Lan. "So to defeat you we have to defeat _him_. Your son."

Bass scoffed at the idea. "He's not my son, but merely a tool I made for myself, nothing more."

"So where is he then? If all we have to do is defeat him, then…"

"Don't think me the fool to tell you, Megaman," said Bass. "But I'll let you know, at this moment he should be killing your pink friend."

"What! Where is he, you bastard! Tell us! Lan!"

"Sword, IN!" shouted Lan.

A short sword appeared in Megaman's hand, but before he could use it against Bass, Bass formed a DarkSword with other hand and sliced off Megaman's arm.

"AHH!"

"Don't struggle, Megaman. You aren't going anywhere but to the dark abyss of deletion."

"D-Damn…!"

"Megaman! I'm out of Recovery chips…!"

"L-Lan…"

"This is the end, Megaman."

And then suddenly, Megaman hiccupped.

It was a bad tasting hiccup that felt less like air and more like a dark and intense combination of emotions: anger, sadness, and tragic hope. It was a hiccup that didn't feel like his own, because he never hiccupped before in his life.

A chime echoed in the back of his mind. It resonated within him, filling him with a cold sense of regret and anxiety. Suddenly everything felt wrong to Megaman, like he was supposed to be somewhere urgent and just wasting his time here. The chime just multiplied that feeling.

Before he knew it, there was someone else there with Bass: Tempo.

"…You. I never told you to come meet me. Have you dispensed of Roll?" asked Bass abruptly.

"Dispensed of Roll…? No, I have not. Nor will I ever," meekly responded Tempo.

A weight suddenly fell off of Megaman's shoulders.

"…What?" inquired Bass.

"You heard me."

"You dare disobey me?"

"I dare. And because of that, you die." Tempo pointed at Megaman and snapped his fingers. "Arise from the depths of Megaman's soul! Dark Proto Soul! Abandon your dying vessel!"

Still pinned down by Bass's sword, Megaman hiccupped again, and suddenly watched as a great big black bulge erected from his stomach. It got longer and longer, until it popped, and gushed what looked like black ink all over the place. And suddenly…

In a blink, both of Bass's arms and a half of his leg flew away from him. After getting one quick glance at his attacker, off flew his head. But he wasn't dead. And immune to death as he was, he was not immune to pain. Agony burst through his nerves like lava through human veins. It may not seem like much, but this pain that echoed through his body, needling through every inch of it, was only beginning. An eternity of it yet awaited him.

_Proto Soul?_ thought Lan. But it wasn't so. It was Protoman, sword swinging, taking his revenge, that had burst out of Megaman. There was just one main difference: every single piece of his armor was completely, pitch, black.

He continued cutting up Bass, piece by piece, slice by ever-so-thin slice, with lightning speed and sadistic precision.

"What… just happened?" thought Lan out loud.

Megaman was thinking along the same lines. _Is that Protoman? Did he… escape?_

"Protoman! You're okay!" yelled the Navi, ignoring the pain of his missing arm for a moment. But Protoman didn't respond.

Tempo laughed and pointed at the cut-up remains of Bass. Protoman stopped attacking Bass, and suddenly the dark Navi's body reformed into its former self – complete with cloak – in the blink of an eye. It stood still there, as if it couldn't move.

"What is the meaning of this?" angrily asked Bass.

"Didn't I just tell you? _I'm going to delete you!_" exclaimed Tempo, suddenly in much higher spirits than he was before.

"You can't possibly think that a weakling like yourself can-"

"Protoman?"

The dark Protoman lunged at Bass and stabbed into his mouth, silencing him.

"Protoman…?" said the shocked Megaman.

"Hahah," laughed Tempo. "It is not the same Protoman you've always known, Megaman."

"What? And who are you?"

Slightly put-off by the question, Tempo responded, "Doesn't necessarily matter. But I know you, Megaman. You're the world's great hero, who always fights for right and against wrong." He paused, to consider this fact ever further. "Yes, you fight against wrong. And, according to Roll-"

"Roll!" gasped Megaman. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She's fine," responded Tempo. "As I was saying: According to Roll, you will naturally try to stand in _my_ way when the time comes. Because of our natural differences…"

"…What are you…?" started Lan.

"Hmm," said Tempo to himself. "Yes… So it is so… Then, I have no choice. Protoman?"

The black Navi pulled his weapon out of Bass's head and turned to Tempo's attention. In a cocky, youthful voice he spoke, "What now? Still bossing me around, are you?"

"Kill Megaman."

"Heheh, you always have such fun requests…" But as he walked closer to him…

(**Megaman?**)

"Agh… crap….!" Protoman had stopped in his tracks and began holding his aching head.

(**What are you doing, Dark?**)

"None of your business! _Kah!_ Go back to sleep!"

"What now?" inquired Tempo.

"He's… Ah! Awake…" responded Dark Protoman through huffs and puffs.

"Well, deal with it and kill Megaman!"

"Easy for you to say! You're not… GAH!" cried the dark sword slinger. "Why don't you do it yourself! He's-" and suddenly, "-**AH**!"

Megaman had just stabbed him with another Sword chip.

"You aren't Protoman, are you?" asked the blue clad hero. "You're nothing like him…! What did you do to him? Where is he?"

"Son of a- He stabbed me!" exclaimed Dark.

"Then do something about it! I'm getting tired of-"

"_You_ do something about it! I'm not your damned servant!"

Bass coughed abruptly right after that. He was probably trying to say something offensive about Tempo's leadership, but his mouth had no tongue to say it.

"I can't," explained Tempo. "It already takes a large amount of energy to keep father in check, and I don't have enough to do anything else."

"Hah! What a long and boring way to say that you're weak!" exclaimed Dark. "You- **AAAAAAH!**"

"What…?"

"**It… It's…** **his…!**"

Sure enough, the real Protoman's light red sword was sticking out of Dark Protoman's chest a few inches away from the Megaman's Sword chip. There was no entry wound, the sword come out from _inside _of Dark.

(**Leave Megaman alone.**)

"It's useless… he won't let me be…!"

"…Because of Megaman…?" muttered Tempo. "…We're leaving."

"Wait," demanded Lan. "Where's Roll? What did you do to Protoman?"

"Useless questions. You'll know their answers soon enough…" replied Tempo.

"Dammit, let's go already!" cried Dark.

With nothing more to say, Tempo, Dark, and the captured Bass teleported away.

"Wait…!" cried the one-armed Megaman.

"They're gone… Damn! DAMN!" cried Lan.

"I can't believe it…"

"All of this was for nothing…! We couldn't stop Bass, we couldn't stop that Navi, we couldn't even save Protoman!"

"…"

"Damn…!"

"…We'll get him next time, Lan."

"…If there is one."

"There will be. There always is."

A long silence ensued. Megaman got on his feet and stared at Lan. Lan had eyes closed, thinking, thinking, thinking...

"Maybe… Yeah..." He suddenly jacked Megaman out and slowly began walking out of the bank, into the streets of Dencity. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was already beginning to darken. Soon the entire town would turn pitch black.

"So… what now?"

"Now? Now…" Lan walked back the way he came, north. "I guess now… we're going to prepare. This isn't over. As soon as you get better, Megaman, we're going virus busting! To get better. So that next time…"

"Yeah. So that next time we can really defeat them. Once and for all."

"Yeah, once and for all."

Lan walked north, away from the sun.

The war, although Lan didn't notice it, had just begun under his nose. Tempo wasted no time in getting his plan into action, and within the next few days, countless cyber-terrorist attacks would erupt all over the internet, and all over the real world. Navis would disappear from the safety of their operators' PETs in order to join the cyber-terrorist group know as 'Rebellare.'

But for now, in the calm before the storm, Lan walked north. To Mayl. To a long, desperate hug with her, and a long and vulnerable, blind first kiss, to burn away their pain and loss. Before the tides of war changed them all, Lan and Mayl lip-locked destinies, and, later, cuddled together outside the ruins of their hometown.

Together, finally and truly, they prepared for the worst:

When revolution finally erupts.

The End…

* * *

Unanswered questions and all, Rebellare comes to an end here. It was a fun ride and everything, but this universe took way more out of me than I anticipated. To exemplify how out of control this story has gotten, recall the last three chapters. They were originally meant to be only the 5th part of this 9 chapter series, yet that one chapter somehow managed to hold enough text for the three entire chapters just released. That's, originally, 9,000 words for one chapter. Imagine how inflated this story would get if this continued? With college, a new job, and only weeks left before my parents kick me out of the house, I simply can't put up the time and energy to keep this story up, no matter how much better its been getting lately (or not). 

To get to the point, everything that happens after the events of Lan and Mayl's first kiss are entirely up to you. You can simply say that together they fight off Tempo's army, end the war, and save humanity. But then that wouldn't give justice to the events for when Tempo confronts his feelings for Roll. Then there's Dark Protoman to worry about: he still hasn't followed through with Chaud's last command, to avenge him. And there's the question of who really killed him, Bass, who commanded NTT, or Tempo, who made NTT for Bass's purposes (don't be surprised if you don't remember this, I never said it).

This story was meant to be much more. Years were meant to have passed before the next chapter. Lan was supposed to be become a strong-willed, handsome individual with a beautiful girlfriend and lover in Mayl. Both of them would have matured significantly, thanks both to the ensuing war in which they take part in and to the events that just took place. Even the Navis were going to be remodeled slightly. Slightly. Everyone will of course always be the same characters you've grown to love, just more evolved.

Anyways, I don't know why I continue to blabber. I just hope that you enjoyed this story. That's all. Thank you sincerely for reading. Hopefully in due time, I'll get to _Rebellare_ 2 or at least continue with _The Elf Wars_. In a few years. Seriously.

Thanks again, and good bye.


End file.
